Moving Towards a Cleaner India

60 plastic spoons

30 paper cups

40 paper plates

3 masks

Looks like a random shopping list, doesn't it?

It is the approximate number and kind of litter that I found in Elliot's Beach at Besant Nagar in Chennai during a recent beach clean up drive.

On talking with the regular beach cleaning workers, I was devastated to find out that this is the kind of state they find the beach in ,every Sunday and Monday morning, after the weekend rush.

Imagine their situation ,waking up in the morning to go clean up heaps of garbage, all thrown here and there by people without even giving a thought to how badly it will affect the environment. And yet, as I saw them clean up all the litter , they did so with a pleasant smile on their face, probably because of having us ,volunteers, by their sides.

However, why is there a need for beach clean up drives like these to be organized to keep our beaches clean? Isn't it a collective responsibility of ours as a society to keep not only our beaches, but all our surroundings clean?

The day we don't need separate people to clean our public places is the day I believe we will have achieved true cleanliness. So the next time you see someone in your family or friend circle litter, do go up to them and request them not to do so. Small changes by our individual selves definitely go a long way in reforming societies.

So to end though, with an anecdote of course, I somehow found only a couple of masks discarded on the beach. So what do you think? Was it because people were socially aware and decided it to not litter them, or did people not have masks to discard since they weren't wearing any ? 😂

Let me know in the comments below! And also do feel free to share any of your interesting volunteering experiences!