Christelle Cardinal, Kuils River
Lagoon Beach in Milnerton needs help. It doesn’t matter what day you go or whether it is high tide, low tide or spring tide, the beach is trashed.
It used to be fun going there. My joy at the beach is collecting little bits of driftwood, but it is a disgusting beach these days. Not fun when you are looking for driftwood and you stumble upon a dead chicken, a decaying cat and a big fat dead rat. Seriously, what are they doing on the beach? The previous week I saw a dead dog.
I go and do beach clean-ups while looking for driftwood, but I can only pick up so much trash. The beach needs way more hands and regular clean-ups. But it seems like the root cause needs to be addressed. Where does all this trash come from? Condoms, bottle tops, lighters, clothes, shoes, nappies, toys, plastic spoons (especially red ones) and hundreds of pieces of wrappers are strewn all over the beach.
What bugs me is that it looks like nobody cares a whole lot. On Sunday, I was the only one picking up trash while everyone else were having fun in between all the trash. But I actually did it on purpose so that people can see and also get an aha-moment and grab a bag and start picking up trash. At least four people tried to make conversation regarding it so maybe just maybe I inspired someone to do the same.
I know Save a Fishie (on Facebook) organises clean-ups, but it’s not enough. The trash just keeps coming. We need more people involved to keep the beaches clean.
A beach looking like a giant garbage bin is not a pretty sight, and it is definitely not good for tourism. We need to care more about our beaches and ultimately our planet. The ocean needs us to care way, way more. There is no Planet B.
I believe every little thing we can do to help is good but together we can make a huge difference.
