What is "Walks with Willa"?

I’m Willa, and I started an Instagram account called “@walks_with_willa” to track how much trash I pick up in my community!

In 2021, I started going on walks with friends and family to pick up litter. At the time, I was working independently of an organization and was looking for a way to help my community while isolated in the COVID pandemic. I’ve always had an interest in environmentalism and conservation, so picking up trash seemed like an easy and fulfilling way to help out.

The trash-walks were sporadic at first, but once I got in a routine, I made my Instagram account. I started posting pictures from these walks, along with the weight of the trash I had collected. I also track things like cigarettes, masks, and other interesting finds.

Eventually, I connected with Clean Up, Give Back where I was able to continue this project with supplies from the group! To date, I have been on 63 walks, totaling over 50 hours of work and over 320 pounds of trash collected.

While this started as a service project and still largely serves this purpose, Walks with Willa has also become a fun way to spend time with my family and friends and to explore nature. I’ve made so many memories over the past couple years from these walks. The wildest walk I’ve been on was probably this past summer when I was cleaning along a bike trail and saw two snakes!

My favorite part about Walks with Willa, though, is that it spreads awareness about waste and litter. Although pollution is a daunting and widespread problem, my work shows people in my community that anyone can make a difference. Since starting my account, I’ve noticed my family picking up trash at the parks where I have cross country meets and friends grabbing wrappers when we are out getting ice cream, among other things.

It’s vital that everyone contributes to creating a cleaner environment, so the next time you see a piece of litter, why not pick it up?