Kayak and Klean - Earth Hour 2019
I wanted to do something more meaningful than switching off lights for an hour for Earth Hour 2019. As I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw an advertisement for "Kayak and Klean", where one can clear rubbish from our waters while kayaking. This activity was organised by Conservation Resorts World in collaboration with Water Venture and Project Blue Wave. The cleanup location was Sembawang Park. Since it was held close to my home, I decided to sign up.
On the morning of the cleanup, the weather appeared to be promising. It was cool and cloudy. However, most residents in Singapore would know that such weather is usually transient and our skies are often searing hot or lashing with rain. After a briefing at Water Venture, grey clouds rolled in and lightning alert came on. The cleanup was thus postponed.
I was shooting with my phone through a waterproof case, thus most of the images are hazy.
The instructors from Water Venture decided to pass time through icebreaker activities. Normally, I dislike participating in them especially if they involve memorising names, but they managed to make it enjoyable.
After the skies cleared, we headed out in teams of two with our kayaks. Although I have one-star certification in kayaking, I found it very difficult to steer the kayak in the right direction. I think my partner and I were not used to working together and were paddling at different strengths. I was so glad I was not sea-sick because the waves became choppy after the rain and I was running a fever too.
We landed on a small beach and the cleanup commenced. Each pair was given a bucket, glove and tongs. Despite the delay due to the weather, it was evident that it did not affect the cleanup at all - the buckets were too small and we filled them up under five minutes. I am not exaggerating. There was so much trash on that small stretch of beach. I can understand people being creatures of convenience when opting for single-use products, but not cleaning up after yourself just screams "uncivilised" to me.
Styrofoam everywhere
To clear as much rubbish as we could, our group made some improvisations. We emptied the trash bucket into the kayaks and also used rubbish we found as receptacles e.g. bags and even a laundry basket.
After the cleanup, we had buffet for lunch. The organisers had informed us beforehand to bring our own reusable cutlery. I was glad to enjoy the buffet lunch with my lunchbox without being the odd one out. However, I noticed that more than half of the participants did not bring theirs and they had to use those provided in a goodie bag. Speaking of which, the lunchbox given to us was ironically wrapped in single-use plastic. I asked some of the organisers if they can get the manufacturers to ditch the wrapping and they said they were looking into it.
I found this cleanup to be meaningful and it certainly inspires me to participate more frequently in such activities in the future. What we tackled was just the tip of the iceberg, but if our efforts managed to save just one marine life from the harmful trash, it is worth it.
