Cleaning the Beach

Well after a Sunday helping clean the Silvermine Beach in Mui Wo and the following Saturday morning cleaning the Nim Shue Wan Beach at Discovery Bay I thought I had seen rubbish on beaches.

Caught the ferry back from Discovery Bay to Mui Wo and could not believe what used to be lovely sandy beaches were now dumping grounds for polystyrene (that is the first thing you see as it is the lightest and so is on top) and everything else you can only just imagine.


This is the Wang Tong River though it gives you an idea of the other beaches.

No this was not directly put there by humans, rather it was Typhoon Hagiput showing us how much is floating around the Hong Kong waters. Hagiput on 23 September kindly delivered it to prominent beaches to remind us all that we should be looking after our waterways more than we are. It also reminded us of the power of the sea when combined with a high tide and a storm surge. Check out http://www.kinzie.com/renovations.htm for an idea.

So together with some Hong Kong XL Life Members and the dedicated team from DB Green (http://dbgreen.org/) Louise and I headed off to Nim Shue Wan Beach at Discovery Bay to take away another layer of rubbish.

There was everything from Fridges to Boats to Washing Machines to Shoes and of course other rubbish. It is incredible what has washed up and this is only one of Hong Kong’s beaches.





We even had the local Chinese lady directing us not to take things to the bin but instead to her place. What a laugh when she turned up with her sledge hammer and pliers to recover the best bits!!!


The photos tell the story and of course the cleanup ended with a snack at the beach.


Grow well
Dr Merrin

How clean is the water?

Sitting next to the Silver River, in Mui Wo on Lantau Island, I saw some people walk down to the waters edge and take a mouthful of water. This is at the rivers mouth with Silver Mine Bay.

This is in an area where people do go swimming and shellfish is collected.

What is interesting is that these people must have perceived that the water was clean enough looking to taste.

I wonder where else in Hong Kong they would be brave enough to drink the sea or river water?

The last 10 years records show that Silver Mine Beach has a fair water quality (http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/beach_quality/bwq_current_i_sil.html).

You might like to look at the EPD website before heading to your favourite Hong Kong beach for a swim!(http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/beach_quality/bwq_home.html)

Swim well