Huge thanks of gratitude to the over 15 amazing volunteers who helped out at our first ever joint NGO beach cleanup for #SharkAwarenessDay July 14, 2022 hosted by Plastic Free Seas (PFS) and Hong Kong Shark Foundation 香港護鯊會.
After Hong Kong was hit with two typhoons the 1st week of July, the beach looked post apocalyptic when we arrived. But after the amazing effort and results from a group of mainly concerned teenagers cleaning the beach at Nim Shue Wan in Discovery Bay 愉景灣, a small miracle emerged – a real beach with sand and our small team had collected:
- 184kg collected in 20 bags
- 50 plastic beverage bottles – 28 from HK, 16 from China, and 6 unknown.
It was a shocking amount of washed in rubbish. One of the big ‘take aways’ of the day for all of us was the need to say NO to single-use take-away food and beverage packaging. It seemed to represent a disproportionate percentage of the waste washing up on the beaches we have been cleaning post typhoon.
We must also realise that sharks live in this extremely polluted waters and eat these microplastics daily. This results in high levels of lead, mercury and arsenic in their fins which eventually end up in your body when you eat shark fin soup. Just another reason to say NO to shark fin soup!
In honour of sharks and #plasticfreejuly, let’s all commit to at least one change in the single use plastic that we use. Let’s all write to one shop or restaurant to let them know something great they are doing or something we would like them to change!
Special thanks to the amazing Dana Winograd and Iris from PFS who guided and educated us through the sea of rubbish and reminded us they together we are stronger and that our actions will make a difference! 
If you’re interested in doing a beach cleanup please reach out to us this summer and we would love to do some more good for our planet! 

