Hiker & her 3 children pick up trash in Clementi Forest, find 13 shoe soles & an entire boot

When you leave nothing but footprints.

Zi Shan Kow | December 08, 2022, 06:50 PM

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A hiker in Singapore recently filled a bag full of trash while hiking in Clementi Forest with her children.

Many soles collected

43-year-old Doro Schillo shared photos of all the trash they collected on the Facebook group Singapore Hikers.

Interestingly, they reaped 13 soles and a few bottles and cans. In fact, their greatest find was an entire boot.

Here's a reminder to bring proper shoes to hike in Clementi Forest.

"I think most hikers are very considerate and take their trash with them," said Schillo.

People are usually surprised when they lose their shoe or shoe sole, but forget to take the rest of the shoe with them after having a good laugh about it, she told Mothership.

She shared that her family loves Clementi Forest due to its "naturalness" and they hike there every three to four months.

She enjoys how the hike is never the same each time, as "the trail changes throughout the year by fallen branches, trees, muddy paths".

Idea to collect trash came from her children

The German woman has four children, aged 11, eight, five and two, but the youngest did not participate in picking up trash that day.

The family has lived in Singapore for seven years, and the idea of collecting trash during the hike started after the Circuit Breaker period.

"We started noticing lots of lost face masks and soles. Once we counted 12 masks and nine soles."

Schillo said her kids were "baffled" by the amount of trash they saw and wanted to do something about it.

The idea slipped her mind the last few times they went hiking, but this week, they reminded her to bring a plastic bag to collect all the trash.

"Every sole was celebrated like a treasure"

The kids were proud of any bit of trash they found and were never repulsed by anything they saw.

Schillo said the kids "felt so good about their mission to clean up their favourite forest".

"Every sole was celebrated like a treasure. The boot was the best!"

With close to 400 likes on the post, many in the comments section praised her and her children for helping to keep the forest clean.

While she did not expect the attention her post received, she said she was happy about "every single like", so she can show her children that people really appreciate their effort.

All images via Doro Schillo.