VOLUNTEERING AT A BEACH CLEANUP

Its weird that, something you just wanted to try once makes you find your purpose in life and it becomes something you define yourself by!!

A random decision of attending a beach cleanup drive near my house through a fb event became my weekly to abide by routine. Doing things alone n on my own has now become a habit. i went there, put on the disposable gloves they gave me and joined some 50 college students in picking up plastic at Dana pani beach one afternoon for an hour an a half.

A typical beach clean up includes picking up plastic and other non bio degradable things from the beach n putting them in crates provided. The land is already dug up by the team which makes it easier to pull out the trash. Plastic typically includes milk bags, surf packets, chips and black polythene bags that i see the most. The weirdest thing ive found at the beach is a skull!( of a dog), dont get carried away to a murder mystery story here. Its basic stuff seen in your dustbin and not to forget glass pieces. They are so risky to handle but you’re just so applauded by it all that you just wanna pick it all up and get rid of it!

why the passion to clean up beaches you ask?

Its because im a beach baby and beaches give me the peace that a turbulent soul craves. The endless sea and the waves crashing by is a view I love to be around forever. I have grown up dreaming of a house facing the beach. My favorite holiday with family is Maldives and a dream vacation would be an island with blue and green sea surrounding me. I am super dreamy people. I have also had some nice dates at the beach that have built good memories. Growing up near my nani’s house in juhu made a walk at the beach such a nice routine that the sunset and the twilight is as u say ‘zehen zehen mein bas gaya hai’.

social work which is doing something for some one else’s betterment without anything in return I have realised gives me immense satisfaction. It started with my love for stray animals and providing for them in my area. Working for the CSR team in my office gave me an opportunity to interact with under privilege children and donating household items to poor people through an Ngo has made me realise that giving in any form makes you feel blessed to having helped someone or something. Its somethin i will continue doing forever, more in person than monitary.

love for nature-its something i define myself with on my instagram handle. Mother nature is being treated with utter disregard by the human civilization. When you are at the beach and see the amount of trash that the sea throws back to the shore, you stand frighted by what your fellow human beings have done being the evolved species of this planet. Stop polluting. We all go on vacations to beautiful places but the place we reside in i.e major cities need to maintain sytems of reclycling and trash segregation so that this trash quantity is reduced.

meeting new and like minded people has been an added advantage at the cleanup. new conversations and learning ways to be more sustainable in our daily lives has now become a norm. Having interacted with foreigners who even though not their country are so passionate about this environment is something to learn from. living a plastic free life is not defined by borders.
i read an interesting perspective to cleaning which states that people dealing with anxiety, stress, mood swings clean and organise as a way to calm themselves. they feel in control of the situation and they think they will eventually deal with whats bothering them later. i am going to admit i am going through a bit of this too. i clean in anger to to get rid of filth of my surroundings. i just want to declutter everywhere.
I am part of a movement. I am part of the climate change revolution and am part of a community that is making noise, creating awareness and is moving towards social change. I believe every effort matters. It’s made me think that an individual has a power to influence people around them and that good deeds matter in some karmic sense.

Circular economy is also something that I have come across and adapted. It could be described through these words – reduce, reuse and recycle. With our disposable income and our greed to have materialistic possessions we do not consider if our one action of buying packaged goods generates trash that ends up in landfills n may not be recycled. Only 9% of all plastic generated is recycled. The procurement and source of making these plastic products also need to be more environment friendly by adopting bio degradable practices. We must look at segregation of waste. There are composte pits for collecting food trash so that bacteria n other naturally found insects in the soil can help in breaking down and recycling waste.

Would want to conclude by inviting everyone to be a part of the beach cleanup drive to experience it for yourself. See it change u as a person, who is now a more environmentally conscious citizen. Every action matters. Love nature, love Mother Earth. Let’s unite towards healing her spirit that has always provided for us.