Woman picks up 217,286 pieces of litter and films every single one of them.
She's on her way to 1 million.
Did you know that littering is bad? Of course you did! We all do. But people still do it every day on an incalculable scale, and it might have something to do with the fact that we rarely stop to think about whylittering is actually so bad for the Earth. Sure, it looks gross, but does it actually hurt anything?
The answer is, of course, Yes. Chemicals and microplastics in pieces of trash don't just stay there, they inevitably make their way into our soil, into our waterways, and even into our food. It can also spread disease and kill wildlife.
Look, I get it. Pollution is an overwhelming idea. When you see giant piles of garbage covering the streets, and you think how big the world is, it feels like there's no way to make a difference. Is picking up one piece of trash going to matter? How about ten? A hundred? A million?
This is the exact question behind one 30-year-old woman's quest to make a difference. Emily started a campaign called Million Little Pieces, and is documenting her journey on TikTok as she works to pick up one million individual pieces of litter. It sounds like a lofty and impossible goal, but as of this writing, she's already well over 200,000 and counting.
In January of 2024, Emily was in a car crash that left her with a spine injury. She wanted to get in better shape after and began walking as part of her rehab, but as she walked, she noticed just a ton of garbage everywhere she went. She was disheartened to say the least. That's where Emily came up with the idea to pick up all the litter she could find along the way, ultimately settling on a goal of one million pieces.
In one recent video, she hits 217,286 after 233 straight days of picking up trash. The dedication is absolutely amazing to watch!
@millionlittlepieces 12/21/24 Day 233 of collecting one million pieces of #litter. Daily total: 753 Grand total: 217,668 Follow me please 💕🧍♀️ Go check out StopLittering.com and use my code 0efg9b4Z 🫶🏻🌎 #earthdayeveryday #cleantheworld #fightpollution #bethechangeyouwishtosee #millionlittlepieces #millionactsoflove #millionchallenge #cleaningchallenge #litter #trash #rubbish #waste #globalmovement #bekindtotheworld #onepieceatatime #landfills #recycle #dobetter #mothernature #theworldisdying #christmas #newyear #thankyou
Sadly, litter is easy to find for Emily and the Million Little Pieces project. She finds anywhere from 500 to 2000 or more pieces a day just on walks through local parks and neighborhoods.
The worst offenders are aluminum cans and, not surprisingly, cigarette butts — which just so happen to be one of the most destructive forms of littering around
Not everything she finds is trash, however! Outside of obviously recyclable items, she finds lots of things that can be washed or otherwise cleaned up and donated, like old clothing and sports equipment. She finds tons of tennis balls and hands them over to a local dog shelter.
And, of course, there's the money! (Though it takes a while to add up. By day 100 she'd found a total of around five dollars.)
@millionlittlepieces Replying to @swagballs69 I literally found a quarter right after filming this video 💰 100 days of picking up trash, 102,709 pieces collected, $5.49 found! #cleantheplanet #quitlitterin #stoplittering #cleaning #recycle #earthdayeveryday #nature #parks #florida #trash #garbage #environment #litteringistrashy #fypage #fyp #cleantok #treasure
One of the best things to come out of the Million Little Pieces project, besides a cleaner planet, is the way it's inspiring others.
Commenters mention constantly how much they admire the work Emily is doing, and so many of them have begun picking up trash in their own neighborhoods. She even encourages people to send in their own counts for a little competition! Emily also offers tips for how to get started for people who are interested in following her lead.
"I love this! I just bought a grabber," wrote one commenter on an early video.
Viewers who can't help themselves will cheer Emily on, donate to her cause, or buy her new litter-picking gear from her Amazon wishlist.
They say one of the main reasons people litter is because there's already litter present in the area. What can it hurt to toss a cup or a cigarette butt onto an already substantial pile of trash?
That's not the kind of thinking we need. If you've ever heard of the Shopping Cart Theory, it states that whether you return your shopping cart to the proper area is a good judge of your integrity. It takes effort to do and you gain nothing personally by doing it, and there are also no consequences for not doing it. So the question is, do you care about the next person that comes along, do you care about the community? Emily likens littering to the shopping cart conundrum. You don't have to spend an entire year picking up hundreds of thousands of pieces of trash, all you really have to do to make a difference is walk the extra couple of steps to find a trash can, recycling bin, or ash tray. After watching Emily's videos, you'll definitely be inspired to put in the extra effort!