Today we’d like to introduce you to Arina Zhirkova.
Hi Arina, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began the weekly beach cleanups in August of 2020 because I saw how polluted my local beach was, and by going to cleanups myself, decided to take a stand and start mine very own cleanup, Sunny Isles Beach Cleanup. This has truly become my passion when I first went to clean up in Miami Beach. There was so much trash, and I couldn’t sit idle in the face watching the earth become more and more polluted. I had to step in, make a change, and act upon the issue. This motivated me to start my own cleanup in my city, spread the word, and get others to help because of how critical and damaging this is for our whole world. Since 2020, my participant rate for my cleanup has grown exponentially (from 4 to over 40 people per cleanup). I have gotten many people in the community to keep track of my progress and cleanup events via social media; in a year, 900 people chose to tag along in my journey through Instagram following @Sunny_Isles_Beach_Cleanup. I started with not as many people joining, but over time got many more. Today, I am continuing my efforts to keep the beaches clean and recently was featured on WPLG Local 10 News.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Some of the obstacles that I have encountered is working with people who are uncooperative which sometimes just come for the service hours. This can be very upsetting, especially knowing how much work, time, and effort I put into organizing this. On the other hand, there are way more people that are thankful, happy to help, and are very supportive. It can also be very stressful dealing with so many texts, planning, and requests. But at the end of the day, I realize how much of an impact I am really making and continue leading my cleanups as they are truly my passion which all started from a cleanup I had gone to in the first place. This impacts the world, people around me, as well as the environment, making a significant change.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
A big part for me has been holding my beach cleanups. Aside from that, I am also a tennis player, a 12th-grade student at NSU University School, President of the Marine Science Club, Secretary for the Green Sharks Club (environmental club), Key Club 12th grade Class Director, and Thirst Project portfolio leader, and a very hardworking student. Outside of that, I coach little kids tennis and train tennis myself. I was a finalist for the HOSA internationals Public Health competition and have most recently been nominated to represent my school in the science category for Silver Knight. There are many other different things that I have done, but the ones listed are what I am most proud of. What sets me apart from others is that I am a person who is very outgoing, always seeking more opportunities and trying to do a good thing. I love giving back to the community and making others smile and happy. I am most passionate about giving back and helping people.
Sunny Isles Beach Cleanup:
My project is Sunny Isles Beach Cleanup which I lead every Sunday, rain or shine. These efforts are made to help the earth, impact and bring the community together, and combat climate change, one step at a time. It takes me roughly 5 hours per week to work the logistics, organize, and plan the cleanup. This takes a lot of effort and dedication to lead beach cleanups as I must work out its logistics, the place, present, as well as complete all the small but important steps to make my cleanup fun, successful, and impactful. My beach cleanups are extremely important to me. The opportunity to take a stand, organize, and be able to participate in helping the earth is everything I wanted. I fell in love with the beach and began realizing how polluted it really is. I believe it is our duty as citizens of this earth to take care of our environment and protect our animals and marine species. We must help those in need and also help the ones that can’t help themselves. Taking action and motivating others to do so as well is what is important. Once many people become aware of this global issue, we can really place a bigger impact and change the world, one piece at a time, one mind at a time changed.
When it comes to my beach cleanups, my role is very critical. Not only do I spend hours picking up trash myself, but I also organize and plan all of the logistics out as well as get ready for the cleanup. I make flyers, run the Instagram, transfer all the cleanup supplies to the beach, answer the many questions of others, get everything ready, as well as speak up and give directions on what others should do. I also work with the school such as the community service hours director, Kevin Dibert, to ensure all the students at my school are aware of this opportunity, can come out and help. I have also coordinated a school cleanup and plan to do so for future events and to spend time picking up trash after our lunch periods. All of this together has a large impact all together and takes a lot of time and commitment. Everyone of all ages benefits from this as it is a community service project as well as a great opportunity to help and do what we can to have an impact and make a change. Anyone who is interested can come and join at any age, and the volunteers, the environment, and animals are what are benefitting from this project. The reason is that every piece you pick up matters and makes a change.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Sophie Ringel, founder of Clean Miami Beach, my mentor throughout this whole process is the one that helped me and guided me through the steps of starting my own cleanup. I couldn’t be more thankful for her help. I would also like to give credit to my family, especially my mom. My mom has always pushed me to do better and I can’t be more thankful for her help, she had helped me succeed and is my number one fan from day one. She always believes in me and I don’t know what I would do without her help.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunny_isles_beach_cleanup/?igshid=1btp1f5k6a18m&hl=en
