By Samuel Ng & Eli Chan
As our last environmental project of iProj 2017, we did a shoreline cleanup near Jiufen at the Shuinandong Fishing Port. We interviewed our Rover President, Eli Chan, to talk about her experiences doing a shoreline cleanup project in another country.
Question 1: What do you think of today’s shoreline cleanup?
Eli: This cleanup was our way to make an impact outside of Canada, and that we will do our part in maintaining our environment regardless of where we are. When we arrived at Shuinandong Fishing Port, it was eye opening to see how much garbage there was in the coast line. This is something that needs to be changed.
Question 2: What was the situation like compared to Vancouver? What were challenges that the team faced?
Eli: In Vancouver, many take the opportunity to take part in these kinds of projects. Seeing the situation at Shuinandong Fishing Port, it seemed like there wasn’t enough manpower in the local areas to maintain the cleanliness of the shoreline. During the cleanup, we found a lot of glass, fish nets, and ropes that were tangled around the rocks. There were also giant boulders, so some of the garbage was impossible for us to remove. In locations with heavier vegetation, a lot of garbage was entangled by the root of plants, again, making it hard to remove garbage from the area. As well, there were some small glass pieces from bottles that were too small for us to pick up. This could be very harmful to animals who might think that these glass shards are food.
Question 3: How does this shoreline cleanup contribute to the Rover Crew’s values?
Respect makes up the third letter of our Rover Crew’s value of P.E.R.S.I.S.T. We usually think of Respect as respect for our elders and our peers. However, it is important to keep in mind that we should also respect our environment. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness about sustainability practices.
Environmental stewardship is a topic that our Rover Crew strongly advocates. Educating the public about the consequences of pollution and waste accumulation is a must if we want to perpetuate this habit of recycling, using only what we need, and generally being mindful of our environment. We hope that by partaking in environmental projects like this shoreline cleanup, we can generate awareness on the topic both within and outside of our Rover Crew. I have to believe that by constantly showing people that these small acts are important, eventually, and gradually, people will start to think this should be important to them, too.
