When I first arrived in Ghana one of the things I was most
excited for was the beach. I wasn’t quite sure the beaches would live up to
some of the ones I’d seen in Zanizbar and Australia but I was psyched either
way. I’m from landlocked Zambia, I’ll take any beach.
I visited Labadi Beach, Accra’s most popular, on my first
day in the city. Back then I was happy to be at a beach for the first time in
years but I was somewhat disappointed by the litter I saw. It wasn’t an
overwhelming amount but enough to bother me. I found this to be true of other
beaches in Accra. They were beautiful but the litter reduced their beauty. (Littering
is one of my peeves. I will secretly, and sometimes not so secretly, judge you
for littering but I don’t do much about it.) So it was with absolute pleasure
that I participated in a beach cleanup along Afia Beach in Accra. The cleanup
was organized by the interestingly named NGO, Hipsters of Nature. It took place
on 17 September, which I learned was International Coastal Cleanup Day. I
participated along with my friends from the Humanist Association of Ghana.
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| The hashtag for the day. Borla is Twi for rubbish |
The work was confined to a small stretch of beach but yielded dozens of bags of trash and we couldn’t get it all (especially not the countless shards of plastic). Unsurprisingly, everyday items were part of the haul - plastic bottles, shoes, clothes, cigarette butts, bags, dolls, toothbrushes and old electronics. Chances are much of this stuff wasn’t discarded in that area. I wondered where my trash goes after it’s collected by Zoomlion. I have no idea, and that’s part of the problem. Usually it's 'out of sight, out of mind.'
Clearly I’m unfit - it wasn’t long before I was sore, tired
and sweating. However it felt good to do something about one of my pet peeves.
It also felt good to contribute in a small way (emphasis on “small”) to the
city I’ve stayed in for the last few months. It also made me think about what
ways I could contribute to my hometown once I return.
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| It was hard work but there was still time to laugh and goof around |
The task at hand seemed overwhelming at times. The beach
certainly looked cleaner but it would’ve been impossible for us to completely
clear it of trash on our own. Afia Beach had more trash on it than I’d seen on
previous visits - strong tides had brought in trash from the sea on to the
shore and made the task more arduous. Also, a few metres away from where worked
there was yet more trash that was left untouched. Ultimately though, I was glad
to have participated and wish there more beach cleanups. Cleaning up a small
stretch of beach on International Coastal Cleanup Day is a good start but
considering the scale of the problem, way more needs to be done.
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| Trash aside, the beach really is beautiful |
