Wave Tribe Sponsors Beach Clean-up Puerto
Wave Tribe
When I came to Puerto in May I fell in love with the place: a long sandy beach, perfect clean barrels and nice palapas were one could drink a beer, eat some good food, and watch the sunset.
Published by Wave Tribe
A few weeks later the rain started and with it came the sacred offshore winds. However, the rain also brought in a bunch of trash that was carried from the rivermouths and the streets all the way to the sand and the ocean. The high tide would eat all the trash and bring it to the ocean.
It was hard to see so many plastic bottles and tin cans all over the place.
I asked Godo, the head lifeguard if he knew of any school that would be interested in bringing kids to the beach to do a cleanup. He told me that he was in charge of the Junior Lifeguard Program in Puerto Escondido, in which every weekend twenty kids attend to learn ocean skills and lifesaving techniques. Godo also mentioned that he had been interested in a beach cleanup with the Junior Lifeguards, so we decided to organize one.
When I met the Junior Lifeguards I was surprised to see how eager they were to clean up the beach. We had a little talk before we started. I explained them how all the plastic harms the beach and the animals, and how we could start making a difference in small ways. I asked them how would they feel if their beach was so polluted that one day that they could not go to swim or surf there anymore. They shared how much the ocean is a part of their lives.
It is a place where they can play, spend time with their families, surf, and enjoy nature. It was nice to hear their motivation to protect their place. We spent a few hours picking up all kinds of trash. It was a lot and we all felt very happy to see the difference in the area on Zicatela Beach that we cleaned up. The reality is that the trash problem here in Puerto is much bigger than the small effort we made that day, but you have to start somewhere. The bigger picture painted here was that the kids saw how making their own personal difference can help for the better. They were very enthusiastic throughout the day, and stated that they planned to keep up with their efforts to keep Zicatela Beach more pollution-free in the future. ~Meti