IT’S only when you begin cleaning a beach that you realise how dirty it is.
At first glance the long, golden stretch of sand that extends along the coast past Canoa looks beautiful. But it is relentlessly bombarded by forceful waves and anything tossed into the ocean inevitably ends up on the shore.
The biggest culprits, it seems, are those who come to use the beach. One afternoon we armed ourselves each with a plastic bag and set off to reduce the mess. Within minutes and metres of leaving our hotel, our bags were full.
In truth, we could have filled several bin-liners easily and not even scratched the surface. We found items such as empty oil containers, tooth brushes, plastic bottles and lids, glass bottles, broken glass, paper wrappers, medicine bottles, shoes, polystyrene, straws etc and took them along to the far end of the beach, to a hostal called Bambu.
One morning at Bambu, while having breakfast, we saw a sign which offered a free cocktail for each full bag of litter. So we traded in our bags for a fruit juice each. We were happy just to clean up, though, as a way of saying thank you to the beach for allowing us to enjoy it. And we’ve decided in future to spend at least a day cleaning any new beach we visit – or, if we are staying long-term, take a day a week to help reduce the mess.
It’s astonishing the local restaurant owners and residents don't make more of an effort to keep the beach clean – after all, it’s their livelihood at stake!
Although we did see cleaners in operation on Monday, after the weekend when it's busier, a more intense clean-up schedule is required.
It seems the people live for the moment – which, generally, isn’t a bad thing, but in this instance is short-sighted. And despite our efforts to make a difference, the beach at Canoa will only ever stay – or become - clean if the people who visit start to care more.
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