A TikTok video by an Iowa City resident has gone viral for exposing pollution in her college town and encouraging others to clean up their communities.
In the video, mental health and lifestyle influencer Cora Vincent (@cora..vincent) invites her followers to join her as she picks up garbage around her neighborhood.
@cora..vincent Iowa City we have a littering problemmmm #fyp #fypシ #bekindtotheearth ♬ original sound - cora vincent
"Come pick up trash around my neighborhood with me," she says. "I'm doing this because I went on my regular walking route the other day and counted literally 170 pieces of trash. It was just bothering me, so time to pick it up."
Armed with blue latex gloves and hefty garbage bags, Vincent walks just three blocks from her apartment, filling an entire bag with empty cans, plastic bottles, and napkins along her route.
"If you litter, you're a piece of s***," she concludes.
Dumping trash on the side of the road doesn't just impact our neighborhoods' aesthetics. When litter like plastic bottles ends up roaming freely in our ecosystems, especially our waterways, it can release harmful chemicals and microplastics that endanger wildlife and contaminate our drinking water.
Picking up litter is one way we can all create a cleaner planet. By taking a page from Cora's book and collecting trash littering our local parks, beaches, and neighborhoods, we can prevent waste from harming wildlife and ultimately ending up in our food and water supply.
Plus, research consistently demonstrates that people are less likely to litter in clean areas. By simply picking up trash when we see it, we can create a ripple effect that creates pristine public spaces and environmentally conscious communities.
TikTok users flocked to the comments to praise Cora's impact.
"Love this!!! Don't forget to dump out any liquids from closed bottles so the water isn't lost forever!!" one user wrote.
"You are the best for doing this," another commented. "Lots of items looked flattened like they came out of a trash truck?!"
By channeling righteous indignation over litter into meaningful action, Cora demonstrates how individuals can drive real progress toward a cleaner future for our neighborhoods and our planet.
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