Earth Day 2021, Beach Clean Up
This year, Earth Day is on Thursday, April 22nd. Since Earth Day lies on a Thursday this year and we have been experiencing a lot of heavy rain and high winds due to Typhoon Surigae, we will be celebrating Earth Day on Saturday, April 24th. Those that know me probably know that I really enjoy picking up trash whether it be along the beach or a city trail. Now that I live in Okinawa, it only makes sense to go to various beaches near Okinawa City to help with beach clean up.
Jill and I bought some trash tongs from Daiso (Local 100 Yen Shop) or as we call it “Trash Picker Uppers.” We tested our trash tongs out already at Nakajo Mall Ura Beach which is a nice beach that is 5 km away. We just filled up a bags worth of trash. We picked up everything imaginable – straws, shoes, rope, small plastic fragments, masks, etc. I can already see this year that littered face masks are a huge issue. It’s sad to see so many lying on the beach, I can only think to myself how irresponsible human beings are. What makes me even angrier is that although we picked up a ton of trash on that single beach there was still a lot left and we could go back the next day and fill up another trash bag while walking the same exact spots, it’s never ending. Regardless, I always feel great after picking up trash especially from the beaches, it feels like a scavenger hunt to me and it’s rewarding knowing that the trash I picked up won’t end up back in the ocean.
Our Plan
Back in August, we both got scuba certified in Iwakuni. I’ve been following the scuba program here at Okinawa and on the 24th of April they had a beach clean up event for Earth Day. Volunteers go to the Tsunami Scuba early Saturday morning get a specialty bag, fill it with trash from any beach of our choosing, and bring it back to Tsunami Scuba for a chance to be entered in a raffle to win a free scuba course!
We each get one specialty bag for trash pick up from Tsunami Scuba. But just because we only get one bag from them does not mean we can’t bring our own! Our plan is to go to the three beaches below (each beach and its location can be seen in the map above, desktop version) and each of us fill up a bag of trash. So at the end of the day we will fill up six trash bags.
Beaches: Nakajo Mall Ura Beach, Katsurenhaebaru Beach, and Teruma Beach
April 24, 2021 – Weather was not ideal, it was spritzing most of the day and was windy pretty much all day! We came prepared and had rain gear and wind breakers. We ended up going to all three beaches and managed to fill up our expected bags. On all beaches, we walked from one end to the other kind of picking up whatever possible. On the first beach, Nakajo Mall Ura Beach, we even spotted some locals out there collecting trash. For the most part on all the beaches, we picked up small plastic items, which are equally important as big items. The small plastics eventually get broken down into microplastics which is a huge problem affecting marine ecosystems. We picked up a lot of rope, most likely from fishing boats. Rope is also harmful to wildlife as they can get caught in it or the fibers from the rope can break down into smaller pieces. We also picked up a lot of fishing equipment, to include: fishing line, lures, bobbers and styrofoam from buoys.
Although we spent most of the day picking up trash from the beaches, we did have a nice time enjoying the beauty of the land. Katsurenhaebaru Beach which was the second one we visited was absolutely gorgeous and a quick drive from home. The beach was secluded and had several small rock islands that were picture perfect. I’ll bring my big camera out here next time for some quality photos.
We didn’t really find or pick up any odd or unique items. It was the usual suspects, bottles, cans, micro plastics, styrofoam, and rope/twine. We did find what looked like some sort of tracking device and a pair of what looked to be new male underwear, but that was kind of it.
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Animal wise, we spotted some fun hermit crabs and regular crabs on the beaches. We found a sea slug who washed up, it was low tide. I brought him or her back to the water hoping I saved its life. We also came across a huge snail. His shell was cracked a bit probably from smashing against a rock, but he was still alive and moving.
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Counts
In total, we picked up 32 lbs. of trash (14.5 kilos) from the three beaches. Below is a breakdown of some specific items we collected. This doesn’t include all the small broken down plastic items, Styrofoam, ropes, clothing materials, etc.
Bottles – 28
Bottle Caps – 108
Cans – 11
Cigarette butts – 26
Fishing Lures – 7
Golf Balls – 6
Masks – 2
Straws – 8
We pick up trash all the time, not only on Earth Day. Although, Earth Day is great motivation to get out there and do a bit more. We decided for now on that we’ll always carry trash bags in our car and when we hit the beaches, before we leave we’ll fill a bag of trash and be on our way. It’s sad how many trash items are found on the beaches. You would think that Japan, being a very clean country would have spotless beaches, but unfortunately that is not the case. I could only imagine how dirty some beaches are in other places around the world. All I can say is that both Jill and I do our part. We do what we can, and it is a very rewarding experience. I like to think that the straw I pick up won’t end up in a sea turtles nose, or that rope I pick up won’t get wrapped around the neck of a bird. As humans, we have a lot of work to do in order to clean up our planet. We shouldn’t have just one day a year (Earth Day) to clean beaches and give back to the planet. Every day should be Earth Day.
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