One of the perks of working at Paladino and Company is that every employee is encouraged to serve the community through environmental volunteerism. Some people use that time to serve on boards and committees for non-profit organizations, and sometimes we use that time to get out and simply clean up our home city. This week the Seattle team supported Seattle Parks and Recreation by cleaning up Golden Gardens Beach Park, a well-loved sandy beach on the Puget Sound.

There has never been a better time to encourage your business to support volunteerism. The studies prove that access to fresh air and green spaces improves cognitive function and employee wellness. Teams that work together to address meaningful problems as part of their work are more engaged and find more meaning in their jobs. The community benefits and a greater sense of purpose is introduced to your business. And your local parks, waterways, and communities are more beautiful. If your business doesn’t have a policy supporting volunteerism, we suggest you look into it!

In the past 25 years, more than 145,000 pounds of trash have been collected from beaches worldwide. Trash that makes its way into the ocean can be mistaken for food by animals which is catastrophic to the animal and its ecosystem. In addition to people, Puget Sound is home to more than 3000 species of invertebrates from oysters to octopuses; 200 species of fish like salmon and rockfish; hundreds of species of birds, and mammals like orca, otters, gray whales, humpback whales, and seals. Spending time on a beach cleanup was also an ideal opportunity to reflect on our own consumption and the part we play in the pollution solution.

We found everything from bottle caps to volleyballs, and once we started cleaning up the beach, it was hard to stop.

Are you interested in cleaning a beach? You can coordinate beach and community cleanups in your area by calling your local Parks and Recreation departments. Here are the steps that we took:

1. Contacted the city’s parks department and informed them when and where we’d like to have our clean up.
2. Once they confirmed, they provided a time. They also provide all the tools and gloves needed – AND they send a representative from the Parks department to guide us through the effort.
3. Invited the team, and gave them details about where to be, what to wear, and what to bring.

It’s that simple!

Want to read more about fighting plastic waste? Read our posts about Earth Day and World Oceans Day.

World Cleanup Day is September 21^st. There’s no time like the present to get something planned with your team!

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