The 1st Umbogintwini Scouts tackled the Umbogintwini Ridge on International Beach Clean Up Day on Saturday, 19 September. They tagged and bagged 17 refuse bags of litter within a 750m distance on the beach below the ridge. Littering does not create jobs, it destroys the environment. The Scouts learnt that people are not educated enough about the consequences of littering.
“The environment is fragile and we should take better care of it,” said Eben de Wit,15.
A Scout’s duty is to be useful – 1st Umbogintwini Scouts, Janico Beukes, Eben de Wit and Shawn Collins being useful during a clean-up of Twini Ridge.
It is not only beachgoers who litter on the beaches. Litter ends up in the oceans through stormwater that is washed down from rivers and drains. “I’ve learnt that people take advantage of nature. I also learnt that if we join hands together, we can not only make our beaches a better place, but the whole world,” said Andiswa Ngcobo, 14.
The most common items collected were snuff containers, bottle tops, polystyrene, colddrink and milk bottles, beer bottles, lollipop sticks and wrappers. The most unusual items collected were single shoes, doll body parts, candles and a tiny guitar. There were also a number of fishing hooks and line, broken glass, a broken chair, a fishing net and a bag filled with mussels hidden in the sand.
Each item was photographed and registered on the Litterati app, which is empowering individuals to make a significant, measurable impact on the environment. Far more than just picking up litter, the worldwide community of users is building the most powerful crowd-sourced set of data on litter ever assembled. To date there are over 182 000 participants. Members all over the world have been able to use LitterData to get companies, organisations and governments to create positive environmental policy changes.
The 1st Umbogintwini Scouts believe that more should be done to raise awareness and educate people about the consequences of littering. “Companies should focus on producing more biodegradable items to replace plastic and polystyrene,” said Ewald Smit, 15.
If you would like to join the community that helps keep the planet clean, then download the Litterati app from Google Play or the App Store and enter the log in code ‘Inkwazi Isu’ to become an active litter warrior today.
