If you are reading this, you hopefully are at least interested in environmental issues and have wanted to make a difference.
So, how many of you have actually participated in a beach cleanup yourself?
Well, according to a survey I conducted of 68 people, it showed that majority had already participated in a beach cleanup or were willing to in the future. However, if you have not participated in one before and are wondering what is all the fuss about, today we will be exploring opinions and potential benefits of participating in beach cleanups
Firstly let us look at some opinions of those surveyed.
All but one of those surveyed who were willing to share their views on beach cleanups had participated in a cleanup before, and some of their responses included:
“Going for cleanups is meaningful to me as it lets me feel I am giving back to the environment. I come to the beach every weekend and have met many like-minded friends during these events”
“I was brought to a cleanup by my friends and I surprisingly enjoyed myself there, I learned alot about the types of litter on the beach and also saw a few cute animals”
The respondent that had not participated in a cleanup before indicated that they would like to in the future. This was their response:
“I have seen many of my friends go to beach cleanups and they told me that it was very rewarding and fun and I would like to go for one in the future”
One similarity between these responses was the view that beach cleanups are meaningful. A study conducted about the effects of beach cleanups on the participants showed that there were increases in well-being (check out my previous post for more on this), marine awareness, and willingness to carry-out pro-environmental behaviors in the future.
This is really encouraging as it echos my sentiments about beach cleanups. The more people engage and participate, the more aware they become about the issues at hand and this creates a positive feedback loop. It also keeps me hopeful for the future of such projects and shows that it is not just a passing trend, opening the door for future potential upscaling of similar projects to hopefully reach more people and spread the word about protecting our environment.
Despite this, the opinions of those who feel beach cleanups are redundant must be acknowledged as well. I did not manage to get any responses from those who indicated they would not be willing to participate in a cleanup. However, from personal experience, I have had passers-by reprimand me about cleaning the beach in the past.
One that stuck with me was a man telling me that he used to participate in such activities as well, however as time passed, he realized that it was a waste of time and that the problem of litter on the beach was not something that could be solved by volunteers.
While I agree that this problem requires a more legislative approach to solve, my stance on this matter is that we have to do our own part before expecting anyone else to do theirs.
On that note, I hope that you are not discouraged and to one day see you at a cleanup :)
Hi Mark,
Love this post.
“he used to participate in such activities as well, however as time passed, he realized that it was a waste of time and that the problem of litter on the beach was not something that could be solved by volunteers.”
What might have happened, do you think, had you said to this man something along the lines of the main takeaway from your survey & post, i.e., that even if these volunteer activities don’t solve the problem of beach litter, they do make people feel good and more connected to Nature, not to mention more likely to care for Nature in other ways ? Actually, maybe I should ask you how you responded to him, if at all.
jc
Hi Dr Coleman,
During that beach cleanup event, I was with some of my BES friends, and we did not respond to his comments as we feared that we might have said something wrong and caused trouble. Personally, however, I was very annoyed at his comments as we were minding our own business when he decided to come and tell us that what we were doing was wrong and I am sure that if it was just me there that day I would have argued with him.
In regards to what might have happened if we responded, I think that he would have still have felt the same way even if we had tried to explain to him as he seemed dead set that what he felt was right. However, I guess that no matter how ‘right’ we might have been, it was not as if he was making blind statements as he had tried it out himself and thus his opinion should be respected too. If I may ask you Dr Coleman, what would you have done if placed in a similar situation?
Thank you
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your reply. Your Q is tricky, and my answer depends on context, including, to some extent, the person’s age & apparent citizenship (assuming we’re talking about SG).
Suppose we’re talking about an elderly, ethnically Chinese Singaporean (which I would judge based on the accent). Even though my definition of ‘local’ includes all of us who make SG our home, I can’t pretend that’s the way society at large perceives me. And I have strong feelings about how we should talk to elderly people, who are, to me, the most precious people, with the most wisdom and life experience, in a society. So, in that case, I would be very gentle, and I might try and tell him a personal story of what this activity means to me and my anecdotal knowledge of what it means to others. But I would accept, as you seem to suggest, that older people can be quite set in their ways and convincing him of anything might be impossible.
But let’s say we’re talking about a younger person who is clearly not Singaporean (again, based on accent). In that case, I might be a little more authoritative, and talk about who I am, what I do, and how research on human-Nature relationships supports the view that participating in these activities has benefits that go beyond the immediate effect of cleaning up the beach.
As a field researcher, you have to be ready for confrontations with diverse people who don’t agree with what you’re doing. But hopefully, you approach these confrontations from a starting point of loving the other person as a fellow human being, who has their own motivations, beliefs and values.
Many of my students and I have encountered locals (in various countries) who have very negative attitudes toward bats and ask us how to “get rid of them” or tell us stories about how they’ve used tennis rackets, brooms, or whatever, to kill them. While I realise most people don’t love bats like I do, for bat biologists, these stories have a similar effect as if you would tell a whale researcher about how you like to harpoon whales for fun. But you have to keep your cool, actively listen to the other person and try and figure out what motivates their behaviour and what tactics might work to get them to change their mind. You get better at this with experience.
But even I lose my cool, like the time I started yelling at people who had gotten out of their cars to photograph a grizzly bear by the road side in a national park where I was working, or the time I chased down a woman who was driving in front of me and threw litter out the window of her van twice and totally gave her a piece of my mind (in front of her kids who had tossed out the litter). Looking back, I guess the first situation warranted yelling at people to get back in their cars because they were truly risking their lives and the bear’s life. I’m much more embarrassed about the 2nd situation. That was a terrible example of behaviour on my part, especially considering that these were children, whose behaviour I would want to impact positively.
Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on my practice & behaviour in a way I don’t think I have before.
jc
Hi Dr Coleman,
Thanks for the thought-provoking response. It’s so interesting and that you brought up how you would approach different people differently, given that this was almost my exact reflection for the ENV1202 mod. I feel especially in this time of environmental crisis, the way we communicate ideas with other people is of utmost importance. Should the way we communicate with others be unsuited for the particular audience or context that we are in, it might lead to our communication causing more harm than good. I do agree with your points though about how we should be prepared for confrontations, but at the same time remembering to keep out cool. I fear that this might be something that I will have to learn over the course of my journey as I am rather non-confrontational up to the point where I really cannot take much more and burst, but I suppose this is part of the job that comes with being an environmentalist.
Thank you again for the reply, it was really interesting to see a first-hand account of what comes with being a field researcher. :)
Mark
Hey Mark!
I agree beach cleanups are super rewarding! I’m glad so many people you surveyed have done/ want to do beach cleanups. It’s disappointing there are people who feel dejected about the impact they have, and decide to stop engaging in these activities. Do you ever feel dispirited when you see trash pile up again so quickly, and how do you get over this?
– Anna (:
Hey Anna,
I am glad that you feel this way too. To answer your question, I feel that no matter how much we clean (especially by hand), it is impossible to remove all the trash from the beach completely so I think that I have accepted this fact. I think what always motivates me to come back and help is doing it with friends, especially when someone new comes to join us. It is really inspiring to see so many people dedicated and working towards cleaning up the beach and is all the more meaningful when you realise that only by working together can a tangible difference be felt. If you have not experienced this and would like to maybe we could organise a cleanup or some other activity and go with all our friends too!
Thanks :)
Mark
In all seriousness, I would love to participate in a beach cleanup with you. I’ve never done it, and I think it would be a great thing for a few of us to do in December. Please invite me.
Yes of course Dr Coleman, I will ask my classmates to try and organise a time that we are all free after finals so we can go together!