Caritas youth counseling center Rheine advocates for clean environment
Rheine.cpr. In October, young people from the youth center “Underground” equipped themselves with garbage bags and tongs and went collecting garbage through the Schotthock. Passers-by thought this was some kind of punishment, but the young people were collecting quite voluntarily. How did this happen? Some time ago, Isabel Bachmann, an employee of the Caritas youth counseling center Rheine and the project “Together in the Neighborhood. Strengthening children – securing the future” and young people from the Schotthock were out and about in the district. The young people showed her which places in the Schotthock they particularly like. These included the youth center, various playgrounds and Walshagenpark. But it was also interesting to see what the young people didn’t like so much: the young people pointed out a few places where there was more trash lying around.
In another project of the youth counseling center, “Menschen stärken Menschen” (“People Strengthen People”), young volunteers are involved in topics such as environmental protection and sustainability. Two of the volunteers, Franzis and Stefan, wanted to design a project that would draw attention to the topic of trash and how we deal with it. That’s how the two project groups finally came together. The volunteers came up with the idea of organizing a small garbage collection competition and, at the end, designing something creative out of the garbage. Hannah Keuss, the manager of the “Underground” also liked the idea and was happy to make her premises available for the event.
So ten young people came together, who diligently collected garbage. “I wouldn’t have thought that we would find so much,” said one of the volunteers. In addition to packaging material and empty cans, paper waste and cigarette butts, there was also a fork, a hubcap and a large burst balloon. During the collection, conversations arose about what would become of the trash that ends up in the Schotthocker facilities. If it is plastic, it would take centuries to disappear. Animals could eat it and get sick from the ingredients. Plus, it just doesn’t look pretty either. After 45 minutes, the groups met again at the “Underground” and laid out two long snakes of trash in front of the youth center. The group with the longer snake was able to win this small competition. The “most beautiful pieces” were then picked out of the garbage and washed to be pasted on a canvas afterwards. Thus a colorful picture was created and the garbage was given a new meaning. The participants enjoyed the event so much that they definitely want to repeat it.