The Cradle of RGP
Gather ‘round the campfire, and I will tell you all about the beginnings of RGP. Long ago, in the Covid summer of 2020, I was spending a lot of time in the great outdoors. As many of you may remember, not much was going on. Not many bars or restaurants were open. I, myself, had just graduated college via laptop computer from the room I grew up in. I accidentally missed the graduation. I was out jogging.
During this time, some friends and I were spending a lot of time on some local trails, just hanging out. The main move was go to the tracks, sit around, soak in some Vitamin D, and then bike to here, there or the other place. Sometimes we’d run around the track. Sometimes we’d ride out to Orchard Beach, and play some tennis. This went on pretty much every single day from early May until late summer. It was a simpler time, and to be honest, it was one of the best summers of my life.
Late in the summer, it was time to find a job, and I started working at Aflac. It was not for me. The leads were terrible. I once called a phone number connected to an elevator, and tried to convince a man who happened to be inside to connect me with a “decision maker” to sell them supplemental insurance. As an aside — Aflac is a great product, and the company prints money. I am up significantly on the stock I purchased while working there (not financial advice.) Regardless, the sales side of the enterprise was not for me. I decided, why not get paid doing what I’m doing?
The Tracks, where we’d always hang out, are frequently covered in trash from local high schoolers. My friend Nico and I would pull up on bikes, hang out, but upon leaving, clean up some trash. I figured, if I’m not going to continue with the Aflac thing, why not get paid doing what I’m doing? And so RGP was born. From sometime that July, through today, I have made an effort to clean trash every single day and benefit the world around us. There is trash everywhere — not only at the tracks, but in every single place we’ve gone along the journey. We’ve cleaned trash in at least 12 different states, and in too many locations to count. Everywhere, there is trash, but also, everywhere there is wildlife. Everywhere, there is nature. Everywhere, there is regrowth.
The thing that gets missed about all the climate change doom and gloom, is when you look at a cracked sidewalk, there are plants growing up through it and there’s probably some kind of nest underneath it too. Above, at the tracks, is an animal of some kind (groundhog? Legitimately no idea), surrounded by plants, surrounded by litter, on a man made metal bridge manufactured in Pittsburgh in 1908. Yes, humans have altered Earth, and we continue to alter it significantly. But that doesn’t mean there’s not room for both of us in here — humans and nature. We just have to take better care of the place.
Look at all the green in this picture. The vines are invasive. The flowers are bright blue. Who the hell cares? To be outside surrounded by natural beauty is what life is all about, at least according to me. It truly doesn’t get better than this. When someone asks how RGP got started, the answer is here, at the Tracks, a man made spot covered in nature and litter, in the summer, the best time of the year. We would keep coming back, and there would keep being a mess, but sometimes you just have to put your head down and clean. If everyone pitches in, there’s a future ahead where the world is a spectacular mix of man made infrastructure and raw nature, in a sustainable mix. Let’s get there. If you love what we do, subscribe.
Instagram, of course, is at theregrowthproject.
Additionally — shoutout to all the people who make The Regrowth Project possible, especially those who have been there with me since the very beginning. You know who you are. I really appreciate it.
