Busch Systems’ Junior Ambassador, Ryan Hickman, came up with the ambitious idea to clean 5 beaches in 5 weeks with the goal of collecting 1000 pounds of trash.
Ryan created his non-profit organization, Project3R, in 2020 dedicated to recycling and environmental awareness/education around the world. Ryan and Project3R have been instrumental in starting school recycling programs worldwide and environmental classes in Southern California. Ryan is responsible for recycling nearly two million cans and bottles to keep pollution out of oceans and landfills.
On April 20th, his 5-in-5 campaign kicked off at Dockweiler Beach in Playa Del Rey which included many volunteers including other teen influencers. Ryan gained a lot of exposure for his efforts, including being features in an article by the Orange County Register which you can read here.
Sunset at the beach. Photo courtesy of Ryan Hickman.
We are proud to share that not only was Ryan’s collection goal of 1000 pounds of trash achieved, it was surpassed! In fact he almost doubled his goal – The total collection amount for his 5-week campaign was 1,769 pounds!
Ryan doing what he does best – sorting trash at a beach clean up! Photo courtesy of Ryan Hickman.
In true Ryan fashion, all the recyclable items were sorted at each event, and over 100 beach toys were separated and donated. For those of you who don’t know, this is something that Ryan does at each of his beach cleanups!
Ryan Hickman with the beach toys sorted from the bleach clean up. Photo courtesy of Ryan Hickman.
The 5-in-5 Cleanup Tour was an incredible success and would not have been possible without the dedicated volunteers, sponsors and Ryan’s continued enthusiasm and hard work.
Volunteers gathered for the beach clean up. Photo courtesy of Ryan Hickman.
As noted in Ryan’s blog, he is taking a few months off of organizing big beach clean ups as he finishes up the school year and prepares for some traveling with his dad – very well-deserved Ryan!
You can read more about Ryan’s recycling efforts, Project3R and read his blog posts at his website: ryansrecycling.com, and you can connect with him on his journey on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube! Ryan also posted several pictures from his 5-in-5 Clean Up that you can browse through here.
Ryan was also recently featured on Simple Acts, Big Impact – a podcast that celebrates teen changemakers. Listen to Ryan’s episode here!
