Meet The Global Bit | Environmental Nonprofit Organization

We had the good fortune of connecting with The Global Bit and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi The Global Bit, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Since the founding of The Global Bit in the summer of 2020, we have continuously been exploring various methods to increase our community outreach. The most important factors behind our success are the incorporation of The Global Bit into our school, Plano West Senior High, and the consistency behind our blog posts and events. For example, in 2021, we decided to promote The Global Bit through our school and advertised through the National Honors Society to acquire volunteers for our community cleanups. We accumulated over 150 youth and adult volunteers and removed over 50 trash bags of litter from our community through the course of the year. With the support of our large volunteer base, we also collected and donated over 200 pounds of clothes, shoes, and toys to the local Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County during our summer clothing drive. Additionally, in 2022, we founded a Global Bit club chapter at our school to create a platform where we could publicize our community events and allow students to join our club to learn more about the environment. Furthermore, over the past year, we have consistently released weekly blog posts discussing current environmental issues. These blogs educate others on achieving sustainable lifestyles by replacing various products with their eco-friendly counterparts and being aware of their carbon footprints. Our weekly blog posts have increased the overall user engagement with our website, allowing for the global expansion of our cause to countries such as Ireland, Canada, Australia, and China. As we continue to develop our organization both in and out of school, The Global Bit aims to continue being consistent with our community events by hosting monthly cleanups this year and blogging weekly in order to further widen our sphere of influence and get more volunteers involved with our mission.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The Global Bit’s uniqueness stems from the fact that it was founded entirely by high school students during the pandemic. United by a shared passion for the environment, the Global Bit officers came together to find ways to promote sustainability within our community. However, we faced additional challenges to this goal due to COVID-19 restrictions. During the quarantine period of the pandemic, we pivoted our efforts to focus on utilizing virtual platforms, such as our blog and social media, to raise awareness about significant environmental concerns and events. Our readers across the world became informed about important topics during this time, such as the impacts of microplastics on the environment. Once the pandemic’s restrictions were lifted, we began hosting community events with the proper precautions. We adapted to the new sense of normality by employing safety measures, including providing hand sanitizer and masks and encouraging social distancing. Our organization is fully run by students, so it has been challenging at times to gain access to all the resources we need. However, by forming connections with our community and allowing our unwavering dedication to the cause to guide us, we have overcome the challenges in order to execute initiatives that support the environment.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As a non-profit organization led entirely by high school students, we initially faced obstacles when trying to implement a cohesive and structured approach towards the planning and execution of our events, specifically our community litter cleanups. We found that the City of Plano Sustainability Division possessed the resources and support we were looking for in order to lead a substantial volunteer force through our community cleanups. Olivia Osborne, the Litter Coordinator for the City of Plano, held a significant role in the successful coordination of our events. She was incredibly understanding and supportive, and she helped provide us with locations in the city that needed to be restored. She often personally scoped out the parks and creeks to ensure they would be good spots for our cleanups. The City of Plano also kindly provided us with access to their trailer, which served as a repository for their ample supply of pickup sticks, trash bags, gloves, and other necessary resources which volunteers utilized during our cleanups. Overall, Olivia Osborne was an invaluable asset to our mission, providing us with resources and support. We are deeply grateful for her assistance and guidance. The Global Bit extends our heartfelt appreciation to Olivia for her help- thank you, Olivia!

Website: www.theglobalbit.com

Instagram: @globalbit