The Coastal Clean Up Challenge

The first time I hiked out to this beautiful beach in the New Territories called Tai Long Wan, I was awed by the verdant scenery and stunned at how crystal clear the ocean looked from afar. However, when we got to the beach, we realized how filthy it actually was. There were bottles, lighters, action figures, condoms, syringes and loads of other waste and debris! How could human beings create such litter in such a pristine setting?

This image has always stayed with me and even today I still don’t like swimming in Hong Kong water due to the pollution. The thing is- humans can prevent a lot of this pollution buy not dumping waste in places where it shouldn’t be dumped. Not only is waste an eyesore on a pristine beach, but plastic never decomposes, and birds and animals will try to eat the waste. It kills them and the pollution kills the ocean. Everyone should become a crusader for a pollution-free Hong Kong! I personally love this city and it would be even more livable if it were clean.

Environmentalist Lisa Christensen, founder of the green group Ecovisionasia recently spearheaded a project called “The Costal Clean-up Challenge”. Basically, for the entire month of October, Ecovision is encouraging companies to set up beach clean-ups all around Hong Kong to tidy Hong Kong’s beaches. While popular beaches like Repulse Bay and Deepwater Bay are regularly cleaned by government staff, there are many non-gazetted public beaches awash with garbage.

I participated in the first clean-up on Lamma Island on a beach directly across for Sok Kwu Wan where all the seafood restaurants are. The group met at the Lamma Island ferry pier. There was a press conference for the sponsors and the supporting medias and a little presentation from local celebs Lisa S, Daniel Wu, Jocelyn Luka and Anthony Sandstrom.

Afterwards, we ferried over to Sok Kwu Wan and had a briefing at Rainbow Seafood restaurant where we were broken up into teams. Each team had to pick a name for their group and create a flag and a slogan. There was the Trash Busters, Eco Beach, The Big Blue, The Pollution Pirates, and The Garbage Killers.

Our team was called ‘Sandy Flaps’ because the guys organizing the music and multi media arts festival called ‘ClockenFlap’ were on our team. We had about 15 minutes to create a flag for our team. Luckily we had a lot of artists on the team so out flag came out really cool! It was fun to have a chance to be creative during the day.

It was a beautiful day but it was a scorcher! The team leaders issued gloves and garbage bags for the actual clean-up. The beach we cleaned had such a beautiful view and it reeked like sewage and fish carcasses. There was so much debris on it- we probably could have made do with some shovels and tongs. We were actually picking up stuff manually and it just wasn’t enough. We found a lot of plastic wrappers, plastic utensils, bottles, lighters, cans, and loads of Styrofoam.

It was really fulfilling to feel like you were making a difference. When we left there was a huge pile of trash bags which some guy on a motorized cart helped us haul away. The beach was much cleaner after we left so we did see a result but it still wasn’t enough.

After the clean up, we were all starving. We walked back and had a delicious meal at Rainbow Seafood paid for by the generous sponsors. The food was awesome and there was loads of Carlsberg to go with lunch. There were prizes given away and our team all won Havaianas flip-flops for having the best flag!

As I took the ferry home in the golden afternoon light, I marveled at how beautiful Hong Kong is when it’s sunny. People were boating in a blue sea with cool rock formations, majestic green hills and a fabulous man-made skyline in the backdrop. Hong Kong is a place where you can go to the beach, hike and still have a swanky dinner all on the same day. It a place where people can still be outdoorsy, do sport and live an urban life at the same time. It’s a very special environment.

As I was lost in my thoughts, I looked down and saw loads of murky rubbish floating in the wake of our boat. There was an oily veil of gunk floating on the surface. If only our waters and the air wasn’t so polluted. The quality of life would be so much better here. There is something YOU, the civilian, can do to help. Please contribute.

1) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
2) If you bring water bottles, cigarettes and other plastic or Styrofoam items to natural areas please dispose of it properly and don’t just throw it on the ground
3) Participate in a beach clean up
4) If you’re a blogger or in the media- write about environmental issues such as recycling and proper waste disposal to raise awareness
5) Have your company sponsor a beach clean up
6) Organize your own beach clean-up

Each person can make a difference. Little things add up. Hong Kong is our home. Let’s do what we can to keep it clean and to keep the quality of life high for its citizens.

See all the photos from the clean-up here.

Click here for more information on how you can help:
http://www.ecovisionasia.com/hkcoastalcleanup/
 

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