The 22-year-old climate change activist, Edgar McGregor, made the news in 2021 when he cleared all the trash in Eaton Canyon in 589 days—and he has kept at it ever since.
We’ve all been on the trail and grimaced at the hordes of litter along the path. Well, instead of complaining about it, McGregor took it upon himself to pick up every sliver of waste on the popular hiking trail in the Angeles National Forest.
Over the course of 1,000 consecutive days (and counting), the young hero hiked up to the spot with nothing more than a bucket and gloves to collect the waste that other hikers left behind. He often documents his journey through Twitter posts and hopes to inspire others to take action.
When he first cleaned up the entire trail, he thoroughly surveyed the grounds to ensure he could make the claim with complete confidence.
“I have covered an enormous portion of my park checking the entire main trail, checking all the waterfalls, all the storm drains, everything … and for the first time in 589 days I can say with confidence that my park Eaton Canyon … is completely free of municipal waste,” he says in a video.
I AM DONE!!! I DID IT!!!
After **589** days of picking up trash every single day, I can say with confidence that Eaton Canyon, one of Los Angeles’s most popular hiking trail, is now free of municipal waste!
I’VE DONE IT!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/s4ouDM6Nga
— Edgar McGregor (@edgarrmcgregor) March 5, 2021
Locals showed him love and appreciation on the platform with over 100,000 likes and over 1,000 comments. Fellow activist and 2019’s Time’s Person of the Year Gret Thunberg even responded to the post to congratulate him.
California’s first Latino U.S. Senator Alex Palladilla also tweeted about the accomplishment saying, “This is what hometown heroism looks like. Thank you, @edgarrmcgregor.”
When asked about why he took on this colossal challenge, McGregor responded with a Twitter post showcasing the incredible landscape. No further explanation is needed.
While the exciting announcement may have made a significant improvement, McGregor soon realized that there was more work to be done off the main trail. So, he continued his quest and recently announced a new milestone of over 1,000 consecutive days of cleaning up the area.
He posts about his cleanup journey using the hashtag #EarthCleanUp and encourages his 32,700-plus followers to do the same. This has definitely inspired us to head up with bags to fill with litter on our next hike. We hope it inspires you to do the same.
Feature Image: Edgar Mcgregor via Twitter