Living on Lantau Island we experience marine pollution daily first hand. Our kids are so used to trash on beautiful beaches, that they play with it like we used to play with shells and driftwood (if we ever got so lucky and play at a beach at all!). Even with the government cleaning most beaches here regularly, there is just so much rubbish that washes up or is left after BBQs and beach days. I will never understand how anyone that loves nature enough to spend their day there would leave their trash right where they were. Anyways, we are not just used to seeing rubbish everywhere but also to clean it up. From massive amounts of palm oil to just regular plastic bottles, toothbrushes and broken flip flops (I would say these are the top 3 finds here..) we have picked up everything you can think of.
Luckily our local international school teaches their students about the importance of minimising waste, reusing and recycling as well as how to live as plastic free as possible. Once a year there is Green Week, where ambassadors from Plastic Free Seas others come and speak and educate the kids. Even though I’m very pushy with these things at home and they’ve heard it all here, hearing it at school has a huge impact on them. As part of Green Week each campus does a beach clean up. The biggest impact to me is sensitising these kids to what is going on and how they can be part of the change.
