My son has enjoyed picking things up outside since the day he began to walk. He’d fill his arms full of sticks at the family cabin – clearing the grass of debris. My son’s hands, pockets, and stroller cups would be full of pine cones, stones – anything he’d find in his path when we would take our walks. I had to stop him from picking up garbage on a daily basis, as you can imagine. My son grew, and his awareness of litter and trash in the environment grew right along with him. I’d get questions like: “Mom, why is there trash on the street?” or “Mom, why can’t people throw that away in a garbage can?” Combining his love of picking things up with his concern for the environment was only natural. My son is 9-years old now, and he and his 7-year old sister have been celebrating Earth Day by picking up trash along our favorite walking road for four years now. Both of the kids have the day marked on their calendars. This year they had a count-down to Earth Day for two weeks before the day – you’d think it was Christmas. This story isn’t about my children picking up trash on Earth Day, it’s about a lesson they learned this year – I wish you could have seen their faces. Our family headed out on our yearly Earth Day walk at about 5pm. Both kids donned vinyl gloves and carried a tall kitchen garbage bag while my husband and I walked the dogs on their leashes. A race ensued for the first 1/2 mile of our walk – a race to bag the garbage first. Throughout the walk, several people stopped to thank the kids for cleaning up the roadside. “You’re welcome!” my kids would respond. It wasn’t until we were almost back home that a woman and her husband caught up to us as the kids’ garbage bags were slowing them down by then. The lady hurried over to the kids, walked alongside them and said “I just wanted to tell you both that what you are doing is so wonderful – it’s inspirational!” “Thank you!” my son replied. “Thanks!” my daughter chirped in. A big smile spread across the ladies face as she said “Keep doing what you’re doing” and she hurried off to catch up with her husband. Five minutes later, we saw the lady turn around to meet up with us again. “I just wanted to tell you that you both were so inspirational that I’ve decided to pick up trash on my way home.” she said as she stooped down to pick up a crushed cardboard box. “You’ve inspired me!” she said again. My daughter looked up at me with her mouth open in awe, which quickly turned into a smile. My son hobbled up to where I was walking with his extra-heavy, packed garbage bag and exclaimed “Mom, did you hear that? We inspired her to pick up garbage too!” I smiled, and we all yelled out “Thank you for helping!” The kind lady turned back, smiled, and waved with a garbage-filled hand. For the last block-and-a-half of our walk my family discussed how an act of kindness can inspire others to pay-it-forward. My son quickly realized that more trash was picked up that day than he could have picked up himself because he and his sister had inspired someone else. An important lesson was learned on Earth Day, a lesson that my kids will never forget thanks to the kind lady – an act of kindness can inspire others to pay-it-forward. Have you been inspired by an act of kindness? What do you do to make our world a more beautiful place? I’d love to read all about it. Unbound Roots has been nominated for the Hidden Gem award through the annual Bloggers Bash Awards. If you’ve enjoyed this story or others that I have written, would you mind taking a moment to vote? No personal information is collected – all you have to do is click and you’re done. You can vote HERE. Thank you so very much for your support!