So, everyone who knows me knows that I’m a winter person. I love the cold and rainy weather, coming from a hot dry and sometimes humid climate (Egypt), it has been a welcome change. But this month’s beautiful spring weather has changed my perspective. I can honestly say that my hour-long nature walks in Brandon Hill park are hardly a chore, and have been the highlight of my days this month. I feel like these walks have been good for my soul and mental health. Definitely, not something I want to stop doing after the end of this challenge.

So, today at my accomodation, we planted some vegetables in the hopes of starting a sustainable garden. There were a few gardening enthusiasts to help, although we were all relatively inexperienced gardeners. It was a simple act, but got me thinking about how we could all benefit from this small but meaningful connection to nature. We even considered started a gardening club, but will definitely need more research on how to grow and maintain this garden. I am hoping to work on this project beyond the March cchallenge.

Went plogging again this afternoon with Alistair, it was a challenge the past week due to assessment deadlines and some other issues, but it was very refreshing to hear positive feedback and support from the community when we plog around the Harbourside. People are genuinely interested in what we are doing, and some even cheer us on! The area was relatively cleaner although we haven’t been plogging for over a week, which could mean that there are other ploggers on the same route or that there is more awareness about keeping the streets and parks clean.

Went plogging again this afternoon around the same spot as part of an investigation to see if the previous plog clean-up had an effect. We did notice it was a bit cleaner this time round and so we ended up collecting less than last time. We also had a shorter plog run this time. Most of our loot consisted of cigarette butts and paper products. Overall, a good day!

Went plogging this afternoon for an hour by the Wapping Wharf and Queen’s square with Alistair Lane to pick up trash while jogging.