BURNSIDE, Ky. — Whitney Lewis has taken it upon herself to pick up trash left behind around the Commonwealth. She’s collected almost 2,000 bags of trash since the end of March, and has a hefty goal to hit by the end of the year.

What You Need To Know

  • Whitney Lewis' father enjoyed nature and passed along his love for the great outdoors to Lewis when she was young

  • He passed away when she was 12 years old, and she lost touch with nature for several years. She started enjoying nature again when she was about 30

  • Around that time, she was having health issues and was diagnosed with an immune disorder. She feels that spending so much time out in nature has been a healing experience for her

  • To give back, she travels to several places in Kentucky to pick up trash and it has become a passion of hers

Lewis grew up in Hardin County and developed a love for the great outdoors when she was young.

“My dad was really big into nature,” said Lewis. “He passed away when I was 12 so I grew up going out into nature up until I was 12 years old, then I kind of lost touch with it until I was 30.”

Her father passed along that love for nature to Lewis because of their close relationship.

“He was my everything,” said Lewis. “But I remember when he passed, thinking how lucky I was to have a perfect, amazing dad for 12 years because most people don’t get that in a lifetime.”

Lewis disconnected from nature for many years, but eventually found her way back to it. It was around that time that she was diagnosed with an immune disorder.

“I had a lot of thrush in my mouth, in my intestines, couldn’t hardly digest food, hurt to eat,” said Lewis. “There’s a lot of things that come with it. I’d get all kinds of crazy infections. They didn’t understand why I was getting them because, I mean, they were infections that babies would get.”

Because of these problems, she underwent chemotherapy to treat the disorder.

“I found nature again and I’m telling you, I don’t take chemo treatments,” said Lewis. “I’m not on antibiotics anymore. It literally, it literally is healing.”

She started collecting trash while out in nature, and it’s become a passion for her. It is also a way to show her appreciation for something that she says has been healing for her.

“I’m attracted to trash,” said Lewis. “I don’t know what it is. I guess because I started to pick it up when I was out kayaking and all that, like, it’s almost like treasure. It sticks out to me now.”

After 36 years in Hardin County, Lewis moved to Nicholasville in Nov. 2022. She started networking with people in the city she now calls home, and with some help from her brother, she was able to take this passion to the next level.

“My brother and his wife were the ones that totally donated… bags, grabby sticks, boxes of gloves,” said Lewis. “They were my supporters, you know. They made this all be able to happen.”

Even though she works full time and is raising two children, she heads out to collect trash at least five days a week, which has put several miles on her car. What started as a goal to pick up 500 bags-worth of trash for Earth Day has turned into over 1,700 bags, something she thinks her father would have supported.

“I do think that he would have been proud and probably jumped right on the bandwagon,” said Lewis.

Lewis took some time on Father’s Day to continue working toward her new goal, which is to hit 5,000 bags before the end of the year.

Lewis encourages people to grab a bag before heading out on an adventure and fill it with trash. You can follow along with her on this journey and donate toward her GoFundMe by clicking here.

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