Welcome to the first annual report of www.OneBeautifulPlanet.org!

Here are a few metrics for this inaugural year, organized in five different categories: 1. gaining and sharing knowledge, 2. supporting and 3. taking environmental action, 4. building community through my weekly email newsletter and social media posts, and 5. growing a presence online.

As reminder, this is all a part-time, volunteer endeavor.

1. Knowledge and Education

In 2023 I took several classes on Udemy.com, on topics ranging from environmental science, to plastics, and recycling. I also enrolled in the Terra.do Learning for Action 12-week online course on climate change fundamentals, listened to hundreds of podcast episodes on environmental topics (I drive and travel a lot…), and overall was able to publish the following:

• 8 Educational articles on environmental topics, plastics, recycling, and climate change

• 6 posts under the Action category, with detailed reviews of litter cleanup apps, tools, as well as highlights of my environmental cleanups

• 8 Blog posts, on topics like volunteering, inspiring figures such as Afroz Shah or MacKenzie Scott, event notes, solo vs group cleanups, and even environmental humor

• 2 guest posts published on other websites, such as Keep Massachusetts Beautiful and Clean Something for Nothing on topics related to cleaning up litter.

2. Organizations Supported

Financial contributions were made to the below organizations involved in environmental action, cleanups, and beautification:

• Bucks Beautiful - PA

• Glitter - PA

• Green Amendments for the Generations - PA

• Living Lands & Waters - IL

• Keep Massachusetts Beautiful - MA

• Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful - PA

• Keep Virginia Cozy - VA

• Responsible Stewardship - TN

• Spearhead Project Earth - PA

• Trellis For Tomorrow - PA 

More information about each of these organizations is included on the Partners in Environmental Action page.

3. Cleanups

In 2023 I spent 43 hours volunteering in 40 cleanups. The majority were solo endeavors, while 7 were with other volunteers. I collected and removed a total of 467 lbs. of litter from nature, roadside, and our built environments. Several cleanups were done while traveling, to destinations such as Boston MA, Buffalo NY, Washington DC, and even Runaway Bay Jamaica.

Three cleanups were as part of larger groups (6+ people), which led to a total of more than 15,000 lbs. and 93 tires. The highlight was the Schuylkill River Cleanup which involved more than 100 volunteers.

Here’s a summary with locations, quantities, and some high level comments:

Almost all of these cleanups are posted on the three main litter apps I use: Pirika, Clean Something for Nothing and Cleanup, as well as online on Reddit.com/r/DeTrashed/. Occasionally I post cleanups on Facebook, Nextdoor, and Instagram as well.

4. Newsletter

The weekly newsletter has steadily grown to 124 subscribers. I wrote a detailed overview of the effort at the 100-subscriber milestone.

Open rates continue to remain in the 60% range.

5. Website Traffic

Website traffic has been slowing climbing as well. Total visits are approx. 2,400, of which 1,800 are unique visitors:

Overall, it’s been good to start this effort that I have been dreaming for a long time. It feels great to summarize the results, and I am thankful for having been able to complete each and every one of them.

Thank you for reading this far and here’s to a healthy, productive, and cleaner 2024!

Razvan