Tommy Kleyn is a Dutch man who enjoys walking to work every day, since his commute is through a beautiful area. Over time, however, Tommy was saddened to see that the gorgeous view he previously enjoyed on his way to work alongside was being tarnished by mounting trash that was building up on the riverbank.

That’s why he decided to stop and start picking up trash during his daily commute!

“It took me about 30 minutes to fill one garbage bag with trash, but one bag doesn’t make a dent in a place as polluted as this,” said Tommy, who picked up trash along a river in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “I vowed to fill one bag of trash each day as I passed this spot.”

Tommy kept track of his progress by snapping photos and posting them on Facebook. It took him just six days to clear a short stretch of the river bank by himself. After that, people on a nearby biking path started joining him, as did his friends. They ended up collecting a total of 22 bags of litter!

“The idea is to motivate people to fill one garbage bag with litter each year,” Tommy posted alongside photos of what he did. “It only takes 30 minutes, it really makes a difference and you will be amazed about how good you feel afterwards.”

Here’s a before and after of his efforts:

Tommy was rewarded for cleaning up this river when he saw a Eurasian Coot started nesting in the stretch of the river he cleaned. It filled his heart to know that he had made it possible for this animal to find a home there!

This just goes what to show what can happen if we all take the time to do something small for our environment!