BOISE, Idaho — Paul Venable created Trash Club Boise in 2020. The organization originally started as a Boise State student organization, but has since evolved into a nonprofit. On Saturday, the club hosted a trash clean up in Downtown Boise as a way to combat the growth of litter in the city.
Venable, a California native, says that he wants Boise to avoid becoming a city that struggles with litter.
“Here in Boise with the community growing so fast," Venable said. "I think it’s paramount that we begin to take a stance against litter now instead of when the problem is out of control. It’s easier to prevent litter from getting out of control that reeling it back in.”
Venable runs the organization on top of being a full time student and having a job. He balances Trash Club in his life because the environment is important to him. He knows that trash doesn't just stay in the street, it can impact the health of the community.
“All the trash we pick up, especially on roads, when it rains that stuff is going to go into the drains and right into our water supply," Venable said. "And that’s just not okay.”
Trash Club relies on help from the community to make the clean up efforts matter. On Saturday, the Capital City Kiwanis Club was downtown to help Trash Club with the project. That day, the volunteers collected 42 pounds of litter off the streets of Boise.
The incoming president of the Kiwanis Club, Rebecca Templeton, brought her son to the clean up event. Service has been a part of her life and her family since she was young, so naturally, she passed it on to her son. She wants to be able to make a difference in the world.
“Growing up, you hear all the things that are going on in the world and then you hear ‘why isn’t someone doing something? And I get to be the person doing something," Templeton said. "You cause a ripple, and so you get to be the change you see in the world.”
