Are we a good community? I would say the people of Rocky and the community are all a good community, but when you see someone being messy, help them pick up after themselves. Helping out the community doesn’t just mean picking up a piece of trash and calling it a day; it’s more than that. It means that we have to recycle and pick up after ourselves. 

To help out, let’s start with the basics, like picking up trash. “In 2013, Americans generated about 254 million tons of trash and recycled and composted about 87 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.3 percent recycling rate. On average, we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.40 pounds per person per day,” according to a 2013 EPA report. This shows that we need to start recycling more and reining in our trash.

Rocky students and Fort Collins community members can come in and help by picking up garbage whenever they see it. I challenge you to pick up one or two things off the ground and throw them away. Try to always pick up after yourself and don’t be too proud to pick up after others.

      Another important thing we can do is be kind and take that moment to give an extra hand to help out others when needed. There are many ways we all can help out. Adopt a Family is one way that we are helping out the community. Another is Cans Around the B’Oval. This shows that we all can make an impact and work towards our goals and hopes if you put you time and mined to it the only limit is your imagination. 

         Adam Martinez, my coach for jiu-jitsu, said,  “Integrity, respect and gratitude shows character, but the people without shows weakness in themselves, because they are giving up on themselves. That’s why having a growth mindset and being able to have self-control and balance in your life are tricky things to have, but that is what makes us people. Taking advantage of these things is a good thing to have in life.”