BEACH CLEANUPS DURING A PANDEMIC
I joined volunteers from the cleanup effort to find out more on how COVID-19 has impacted the number of beach cleanups.
By Z'en Peck
There were eight of us, all practising social distancing and wearing masks. We picked up 35.49kg of trash.
Photo: Yasser Amin
During the circuit breaker, many of us were stuck at home, leaving the house only for the bare minimum like going grocery shopping, buying food, or exercising. While we were at home, a problem was piling up on our beaches.
Debris such as discarded plastics and even larger items like fridges, had been accumulating on our shores. With all non-essential work including beach cleanups being halted, the problem was only getting worse.
Many tiny pieces of broken polystyrene were hidden beneath the plants along the shoreline.
Photo: Z’en Peck
It was at this time that the “East Coast Beach Plan!” was founded by Samantha Thian. After discovering the large amount of debris washing up at East Coast Park, she started a Telegram group chat for those interested in joining the cleanup effort to find out information. The group, which has grown to 2,800 members, now includes a Telegram bot, where participants can sign up for cleanups and also view their past cleanups.
With the pictures online telling a worrying story about the state of our beaches, I signed up with the “East Coast Beach Plan!” Telegram bot, to see for myself what the beach was like now and what I could do.
Signing up through the Telegram bot was easy, as it would provide links to register for all the available cleanups. After registering, the organiser will create a Telegram group with all the participants providing the time, location and other information a day before the clean-up.
There was a strong emphasis on using the TraceTogether app, social distancing and mask wearing. Participants were reminded by the Telegram bot and again by organiser Yasser Amin. We were asked to bring gloves, tongs and bags to store the trash we picked up. I found that the gloves and tongs were unnecessary, as I preferred to pick up trash with my hands. But they provide good protection in case you come across sharp objects like fishing hooks or broken bottles.
At East Coast Park, I was surprised to see that the beach was relatively clean. But Yasser pointed out the pieces of broken up polystyrene packaging hidden beneath the plants. He mentioned that these were the most common pieces of trash found on the beach.
Clean looking beaches at East Coast Park.
Photo: Z’en Peck
According to Phys.org, the foamed polystyrene is termed non-biodegradable, and “can be scooped up by a variety of seabirds that might mistake it for food”.
Other forms of trash such as fish hooks not only pose a danger to marine life, but to volunteers as well. “If it can scratch me, then it definitely can kill marine animals,” said Yasser.
Getting my hands dirty, I started picking up trash. With the sound of waves lapping against the shore and accompanied by a gentle breeze, the atmosphere was relaxing. Doing the repetitive action of picking up trash, putting it in the bag and shuffling up the beach got me thinking about how much trash I produce.
Participant Kaamela Barvin, a Literature student at Nanyang Technological University, agreed, saying that doing these cleanups “allows me to reflect on my life”.
Three hours passed very quickly. In total, we picked up 35.49kg of trash. This may not have been a huge amount, compared to the 317kg picked up on Aug 9. But being able to pick up so much trash from a beach that looked relatively clean really highlighted to me how this was still a problem.
I would definitely recommend you try a cleanup for yourself and to tell your friends as well. “We want people to be their own champions for Singapore’s nature,” said Frances Loke Wei, co-founder of non-profit initiative Little Green Men.
If cleaning beaches is not your cup of tea, there are also other kinds of cleanups, such as coastal cleanups at the mangroves in Sungei Buloh, organised by the Little Green Men. Or you can clean as you go, simply picking up trash as and when you see it.
Join the “East Coast Beach Plan!” here: https://t.me/eastcoastbeachplan
Look out for upcoming events by Little Green Men here: http://littlegreenmensg.eventbrite.com