Novatek volunteers accompanied children from childcare institution for a marine environmental education and beach cleaning experience
Volunteer Service
Shared by volunteer/ Xiao-Lan Zhan
Today, we had a beach cleaning activity. In my imagination, beach cleaning probably involves a large expanse of sandy beach, sunshine, and a few abandoned plastic bottles. When we got off the car, we were immediately struck by the smell of the sea! There were some rocky reefs along the Keelung coast, and the green bean-like sand grains were not very delicate. Together with the children, we put on gloves, held tongs, and carried black garbage bags that could fit a person inside. I was puzzled: how many plastic bottles or straws do we need to fill the garbage bag?
After listening to the team leader's explanation and instructions, we began our journey to search for trash. We found countless bottle caps, straws, plastic bottles, glass bottle fragments, broken Styrofoam, large plastic sheets, black rubber, even sunscreen, dozens of lighters, and unknown syringes. I couldn't help but ask the coast guard officers, "Is there always this much trash here every day?" "Yes! They are all washed up from the sea," they replied.
We tried our best to pick up the broken Styrofoam, bottle caps, and straws. Thinking that marine creatures might mistake these small pieces of debris for food, swallow round bottle caps, or have straws stuck in their nostrils, my heart ached, holding my tears from rolling down. I wanted to say: Can we all work together to reduce plastic waste? We saw the children bending down, reaching out, picking up the debris, and throwing them into the black giant bag, one bag after another. A total of 38 kg of marine debris was picked up today, which gave us not only a sense of accomplishment, but also an urgency to stop littering.
In the afternoon, we visited the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung. Although there were no real marine animals in the Museum, the 3D models were meticulously crafted. The children were surprised and asked, "Are they real?" Through various interactive experiences in the Museum, everyone learned more about marine life. In the end, everyone enjoyed the show in the ultra-high-definition 8K ocean theater. I hope that through this experience, the children can establish a profound environmental awareness from a young age. As for the adults, we should start implementing plastic reduction by using reusable cups and properly disposing of waste.
