Hello, I am Natalie Thomas, an eleventh-grade student. I have taken the initiative and organized an After School Activity that meets on Tuesdays to plan trash cleanups around Tunis. We are a group of approximately 20 middle and high school students who all put forth our ideas on what we can do to make a difference with the trash pollution in Tunisia, we call ourselves The ACST Clean-up Club. For clean-ups, we try to target beaches, forests, and fields as those are the most polluted areas that first-hand affect other ecosystems around them.

With that being said, The ACST Clean-up Club hosted our first clean-up of the year this past weekend, on Sunday, the 10th of October. It was located at the historic site of the Punic Ports in Carthage. This location is highly polluted with trash of all kinds, which is tragic as the ports are still in use for local fishing.

After advertising this clean-up for a week and a half, we had a turn-up of 40 people including middle and high school students, teachers, and parents. At each cleanup, trash bags and reusable gloves are provided. Incorporated into the clean-up, we ask everyone to separate certain items as they are picking up the trash. These items include plastic water bottle caps, wine corks, and soda tabs, as those are some items we find can be used in art. The bottle caps are also collected and cleaned to be donated to a center for disabled people in return for a wheelchair, (this is a separate project that will soon be announced). Other items that are separated are plastic bottles, glass, and other recyclable items.

Tunisie Recyclage is a recycling organization that has kindly agreed to work with our group to pick up our recyclable trash at the end of each clean-up. The founder of Tunisie Recyclage is a man named Houssem Hamdi. Last year, I had the pleasure of getting to interview him to see what sparked his passion for the environment. He shared his story as well as some tips for clean-ups. Houssem is also the founder of Tounes clean-up, a clean-up organization, and Soli & Green, a tree-planting organization. Working with them is an honorable experience and I am glad they are interested in our group.

Each clean-up is unique as you never know what to expect. We kept going through the rain and dug through the rocks to get each piece of trash. I know some of us got excited when someone found a shoe or a piece of wood that resembles a sign, - a possible future club sign - even the crazy amount of plastic bottles, we were all surprised.  We only picked up trash for an hour and were able to make a significant difference.
    
On behalf of the ACST Clean-up Club, I would like to thank everyone who came to this clean-up, we couldn’t have done it without you! And to everyone else, we would love to see you there in the near future!