TRINITY, Fla. — Eleven-year-old Lewis Queensberry has been picking up garbage for as long as he can remember.
“We actually started in the stroller. We used to walk around the neighborhood right after he was born, and we would pick up trash with a little Walmart bag,” said his mother, Kathy.
Once he was old enough to walk, Lewis started collecting litter on his own. For his third birthday, he asked for his own grabber claw.
“At first, we were just going around my neighborhood doing all that. Then we came to roads, beaches, all that,” Lewis said.
Lewis is now a veteran volunteer with Keep Pasco Beautiful, a nonprofit that works to protect the environment through education, litter prevention, and community cleanups. The organization is the Pasco County affiliate of the national Keep America Beautiful program.
“There's hope in the future for great things and a cleaner Pasco County with Lewis,” said executive director Liga Martello Buchala.
Last year, Keep Pasco Beautiful organized more than 2,500 volunteers who collected over 115,000 pounds of trash from roadways, waterways, and parks.
A major reason Lewis continues to help is his concern for wildlife.
“I feel bad when I find a dead squirrel because it had paper or something in his mouth. It's not fair to the squirrel for something we did to them,” he said.
His passion has spread to his family.
“He’s a very passionate young man with whatever he does. And this just happens to be one of the things. He gets me to come out here. My parents, who are in their 70s, all of his friends. So, it’s been a pretty interesting ride,” said his father, Brett.
Lewis hopes to one day scuba dive to collect trash in deeper waters.
“I want to scuba dive later in life to find trash on the beach and all that. Go to deeper waters where people go boating,” he said.
Keep Pasco Beautiful will hold its next countywide cleanup Sept. 20. Volunteers can register and find more information at www.keeppascobeautiful.org
Share Your Story with Erik
For more than 15 years, Erik Waxler has called Pasco County home. He’s dedicated to helping his neighbors solve problems and celebrate those who help others. Share your ideas and tips with Erik below.
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