Little Things DO Make a Big Difference!

What do The Divine Miss M., plastic bags, and small innovations all have in common?



Combined, they are evidence that little things do make a big difference!





In 1995, Bette Midler and friends had had enough of the garbage in New York City! They began by cleaning up a couple parks in upper Manhattan. Those efforts were then formalized into the non-profit New York Restoration Project , which continued to clean up and refurbish parks and community gardens.



But there was one scourge that eluded their efforts. You've seen it everywhere, but its more prevalent in cities like New York. Plastic bags blown up into, and then stuck in, the trees. In the winter, with the leaves fallen off city trees, plastic bags and lost balloons and even light clothing become winter's foliage.



Something had to be done. So the NYRP developed the Bag Snagger — simply a three-story pole with a retractable grappling hook on the end. (See video below). Not the next hi-tech app. Not tackling world hunger or poverty. Just a simple pole-and-hook device, tackling New York City eyesores 10 blocks at a time.



Can something so small make a difference? I know it can. I experienced something just like it firsthand. I lived in New York City when Times Square was definitely NOT Disney-ized. When graffiti covered every subway car and many of those cars were unsafe because their lights kept going off. Mayor Rudy Giuliani then waged a campaign of cracking down on nuisance crimes — graffiti, turnstile jumping, panhandling, "squeegee men" and more — with the goal of bring back order and pride in the city.



It worked! (Of course, that was only a tiny portion of what was done to reclaim the city. But...) It was one of the first visible signs that began giving New Yawkahs reason to have more pride in their city — giving them more reasons to chip in themselves.



Little things do make a big difference! 

What little things will you do today?

What will be your Bag Snagger project?