On Saturday morning I took part in a beach cleanup at my local beach, Gordon’ s Bay. It was a community event and I believe about 47 like-minded people took part. We were each given a set of surgical gloves and a plastic rubbish bag. Then for 90 minutes, we walked the beach and picked up any sort of rubbish we could find.
The wonderful end result was that we collected about 60 bags of rubbish in that time! The bonus was that I got to do something great for the environment, clean the beach for everyone, meet like-minded souls from the community, share time and feel good about my contribution. And I got to get some exercise and a walk!
There were similar events on other beaches in the greater Cape Town area and it is a monthly event organized by Clean C along with Showme Helderberg (in my area). If you would like to lend a helping hand and meet some fun people, why not join the next one at a beach close to you.
Breathe in and out. Ponder our environment. Help out.
Taking part and collecting a bag of rubbish that really doesn’t belong on the beach, made me think about how I can help more.
Here are some ideas to try, if you don’t already do them:
- Pick up any rubbish you notice while on your daily walk and bin it.
- Recycle your plastics, glass, paper, cardboard and tin cans and take them to a recycling centre.
- Use material bags instead of plastic bags for shopping or save and reuse the plastic ones.
- Compost your food waste for your garden or perhaps find some pigs who would delight in eating it.
- Teach the young ones in your life not to litter, explain why not and spread the message.
- Be mindful of your water usage as it is a limited yet vital resource.
- Join a community event similar to this beach cleanup in your local area.
Find a way to help our environment a little each day and let’s make a difference together. The environment will definitely be happier.
Breathe. Ponder. Help.
There are so many more ideas, once you start thinking about it. How do you do your bit to help our environment? Please share your ideas in the comments section and lets come up with some fun ones we can all try.
with gratitude for reading, Delicia xox
Hi mssD
Firstly, congratulations, on doing such a good deed. The planet needs more people like you.
Some time ago I was approached by one of the owners in our building who was selling and moving on. They were doing recycling and wondered if I would like to take over from them. I was naturally excited to be part of a recycling project, but when I heard how much it was going to cost me, I just wasn’t able to do it. At R70.00 a week , it was unaffordable for me.
However it got me thinking and I wondered how I could organise for everyone in the building to be a part of this project.
I asked around and kept coming up with a blank.
Then a few days later someone pressed my buzzer and when I answered a young man introduced himself as James from ‘Think Twice’ a recycling company and asked if I would be interested in using their services. I burst out laughing, the poor guy must have thought I was crazy. I went downstairs to meet him and found out that they had just started a project which was linked to the City Council and they would collect our recycling for free.
I was so excited I could have kissed him, and so our building now has a recycling project which is working really well.
So it is worthwhile finding out were the nearest recycling place is in your area, or just setting the intention as I did and doors start to open.
We owe it to Mother Earth, ourselves and each other.
YssGilli
X
Dear Gilli,
You are so right, we owe it to Mother Earth, ourselves and each other. I just wanted to echo what you said. Thank you!
It is amazing how once you set your intentions, doors start to open and things fall into place. The universe truly does conspire to help us fulfil our wishes, desires or intentions.
It is great that you could organise something for your building with Think Twice that works and doesn’t cost a fortune. Well done on your commitment and contribution for getting it done.
Another great idea to see which companies out there can help with recycling in your area. Thank you for sharing that.
yssD xxx
I was getting into the forest for a walk and was struck by a poster with a shocking photo of a swimming pool covered by litter used to advertise the campaign against littering undertaken by IGSU, an Interest Group for a Clean Environment in Switzerland (http://igsu.ch/en/igsu/what-does-igsu/). They organise cleanup events similar to the one you took part in, aiming at educating people on dealing with litter and recyclable materials. You are right, it is so important to teach the young ones not to litter! Littering is a bad habit, and I can only be grateful that I grew up in a littering-free family. To no littering I added recycling. Switzerland is one of the most active countries in recycling (aluminum, paper, glass, light bulbs, PET, CD and DVD, oils, textiles, batteries, compost food waste, just to mention few). Swiss are also champions in thermal insulation. However, saving on heating is completely thwarted by the fact that they simply love very warm houses especially when outside everything is frozen. Swiss have also a good sense of business and by transforming used truck tarps into highly functional, unique bags FREITAG launched a very successful upcycling enterprise.
On my side, the bits I am doing to help our environment are: no littering, recycling including compost, keeping heating low, mindful water usage (but lavender baths are so good!) and… I switch lights and electronic devices off whenever I do not need them. My next objective is to invest more time and efforts in educating others.
Congratulations for taking part in the cleanup and thank you for reminding us how precious our environment is and how much we could do each day!
… and my favourite means of transport are my feet, my bike and the train – though it is nice from time to time to be up in the sky 😉
When I was having dinner tonight I realised that another little contribution from my side comes from eating mostly seasonal food, preferably from the region and best if bought directly from the farmer after a beautiful walk in nature! I know of a few places to find delicious apples (and cider), plums, berries, walnuts, pumpkins, cheese, honey… hmmm, yummy!
Oh it was so wonderful to hear what you are doing to support and help our environment. Your tips, suggestions and ideas on how to help more are simply great. I, like you, wish to continue to make a contribution and will keep to look for ways to do so. You have definitely given me a few more things to consider.
I also love being up in the sky 😉 though of course our feet are the best mode of transport! And I also agree that eating locally, where possible, is the best way to go. Plus, an added bonus, it often tastes better when it comes directly from the farm, doesn’t it?
Thank you for the link and tips! Let’s keep helping our environment one step at a time. We truly all can make a difference, no matter how small.
Namaste