Summer days at the beach?

Long summer days should be spent cooling off in the sea, relaxing and playing in the sand at the beach.  But if the beach was in Hong Kong it would likely be an unforgettable day for all the wrong reasons!  

Every summer the deluge of plastic flows onto the beaches of Hong Kong, some coming from the Pearl River Delta mixing with our own locally generated rubbish.  The sand is covered ankle deep with plastic. Some beaches, according to the EPD, are receiving 7 tonnes of debris washing up daily*.  To swim in this swirling plastic soup is unthinkable as is letting your kids do a surfing camp or similar water sports over the summer break. This year it was reported to be 6-10 times worse than usual due to flooding in China following Typhoon Nepartak. With some investigation following the increased media coverage and pressure from environmental groups, there has been discoveries of illegal dumping out at sea by cargo "junk boats" disposing of tonnes of low value plastic.

Whilst it is easy to blame our neighbors for all our waste problems, Hong Kong certainly needs to start source reduction actions in our own backyard first. The Save Aberdeen Harbour Alliance has made a huge difference in raising awareness and cleaning up one significant source point of some of Hong Kong's floating rubbish. The first event in June had 46 people using dinghies and hand-held nets to remove 2 truckloads of floating polystyrene boxes, foam lunchboxes, plastic drink bottles, cutlery, plastic bags and myriad other items - all of local origin, from Aberdeen Harbour. As a result of the public's efforts, the government has listened to the stakeholders involved and is focusing attention on the issues that have been raised here.  The Fish Marketing Organisation (FMO) has also been inspired to take action and help clean up the water and prevent polystyrene box leakage from the fish markets as well as be part of the conversation to initiate much needed change. By working together, the Hong Kong Government, NGOs, relevant organisations and local residents will be able to implement real source reduction initiatives and reduce our local input of plastic waste.  

Get involved with the next Save Aberdeen Harbour Alliance cleanup on October 1st and see how you can be inspired to start action in your local area.

*source: EPD statistics of waste recovered by LCSD daily from Pui O beach in July