“Let’s make one of the longest beaches in the world, also the cleanest,” said Peter Van Geit, from the Chennai Trekking Club, setting the tone for a spirited coastal clean up early on Sunday morning.
Around 4,500 volunteers, comprising of working professionals, members of voluntary organisations and the general public, pitched in to collect 38 tonnes of garbage and segregate it as a part of The Hindu’ s Chennai Coastal Clean Up at beaches across 20 km from Marina to Uthandi.
Presented by Casa Grande Private Limited, The Hindu’s Chennai Coastal Clean Up initiated by the Chennai Trekking Club, was powered by Milaap and had Indian Oil as its associate sponsor.
Siva Sankar Reddy, Director, Casa Grande and Sriram Ranga of Milaap were among those present at the inaugural of the Coastal Clean Up drive at Elliots Beach.
“Nearly 90 per cent of the 6,000 tonnes of garbage produced every day which goes to dump yards in eco-sensitive zones such as Pallikaranai marsh comprise of waste which can be recycled. All the garbage collected today will be segregated and recycled, emphasising on the fact that the volunteers can do the same at their homes which will reduce the garbage footprint to a great extent,” Mr Peter explained.
Even as the volunteers set out towards picking up trash from the sands of the Elliots beach where the clean-up kicked off, separate sacks for recyclable waste such as paper cups and plastic bottles were used while biodegradable waste went into another.
Of the 38 tonnes of garbage, which was collected across 20 km of beaches, nearly 56 per cent was kept aside for recycling while the rest of the bio-degradable waste was sent to a landfill.
Making a strong case against single use plastic which included disposable cups, straws and polythene covers, the volunteers were asked to adopt simple eco-friendly methods in their daily living.
Martina Michael, a resident of Besant Nagar who had come along with her two sons aged 8 years and 7 years, said that it was important for children to learn about the importance of proper garage disposal. “If segregation and recycling is implemented at the community level, we can prevent non-biodegradable waste from entering the food chain,” she said.
