By: Catherine Daleo
Reading time: 3 minutes

Pure Nevada, a new local environmental organization that uses social media and memes to get people excited about conservation, has grown quickly through being born out of the pandemic.

Co-founder of Pure Nevada, James Heneghan, shared how he and his wife, Renee, decided to start an environmental organization during the quarantine. 

“My wife and I love exploring nature, but whenever we would go out on a hike, our hearts were broken by the massive amounts of litter we would encounter,” Heneghan said. “So I wanted to figure out a way of getting the younger generation involved in the preservation of our parks and national resources.” 

Heneghan went on to state that by utilizing social media, Pure Nevada works to create excitement around the idea of conversation, especially for those who might now have the passion for it. 

“Creating and sharing environmental memes and making humorous clean up videos is a great way to get the attention and following from casual environmentalists,” Heneghan said. 

Heneghan, who lost his job in event management due to the pandemic, went on to share a bit about the creation of the organization, stating that “After coming up with the idea, the beginning of the quarantine actually provided us with the time to plan and lay the groundwork down for the organization.”

Pure Nevada isn’t just a social media page making memes – they also are working on doing actual cleanups in the community. 

“As soon as some of the lock down restrictions began lifting, we were able to go outside and record some solo clean ups,” Heneghan said. “We were getting some positive feedback from followers and [hopefully] raising some much needed awareness along the way.”

Pure Nevada was able to organize their first small-scale event recently at Terrazza Park in Henderson. With the help of 12 volunteers they collected 17 bags of trash from the Las Vegas Wash in just over an hour. 

“We can truly accomplish anything if we all come together,” Heneghan said. “And that is another great aspect of these clean up events, meeting good people.” 

While the pandemic is still happening, Pure Nevada is limited to the amount of physical work in the community, with making sure social distancing and other safety guidelines are followed if they do any types of events. 

“I would need to make a difference when it comes time to form events,” Heneghan said. “One of our big points is trying to get local businesses to step up and sponsor these events in the form of providing supplies and a venue for our ‘after parties’.” 

Continuing on the topic of partnering with local businesses, Heneghan discussed how bringing business and the community together for this project would be beneficial to all, while also affording the opportunity for Pure Nevada to grow as an organization.

“This is a win, win for everyone involved in our opinion,” Heneghan said. “Great for the environment and good PR and marketing for [local businesses].”

Moving forward, Heneghan shared his optimism and excitement for the organization’s reach, stating that, “The future of our organization is very bright, and truly the sky’s the limit.” 

Pure Nevada has recently partnered with The Retreat on Charleston Peak, where they plan to host an event with 150 people. This event is tentatively scheduled for September 19th, 2020. 

“We can really make a difference here in Nevada if we can get all of the hotels and casinos on board with sponsoring an event,” Heneghan said. 

Those who would like to get involved with Pure Nevada or volunteer at any of their future events, they can join their movement by visiting their website at www.purenevada.org. People can also follow them on their Facebook page where they post their environmental memes.

On the topic of how people can help support Pure Nevada’s mission, Heneghan shared two ways to support the cause: through “sweat equity and volunteer work” and by making monetary donations or donating supplies to the cleanup events. 

Those wanting to make a donation can do so here: https://purenevada.org/donations/. 

Pure Nevada has also started a GoFundMe to hire a sanitation officer for national parks in Nevada, stating that, “This position would specifically travel to a new national park/park each day and pick up litter.” The initiative is working to raise $100,000 over the next year to hire this officer, with a plan to pay them a $50,000 salary plus benefits, buy a truck to use for cleanups, and cover the insurance costs for the truck. 

Heneghan concluded by saying “We really hope that there are more people out there like you that care about the environment and the wildlife that inhabit it. Truly Pure Nevadans.”

#GetinMotion with Pure Nevada today!