Biggest turnout for #CleanBlueLagoon
Hundreds of volunteers supported the clean-up after heavy rains washed tons of litter down the Umgeni River.
‘SHOCKING’ and ‘devastating’ were just some of the words volunteers used to describe the state of the Umgeni River’s
banks on Saturday morning following the recent heavy rains.
This as the community-driven initiative, #CleanBlueLagoon has spear-headed 10 clean-ups at the site since March.
However, Durban North organisers, Dale Johnson and Luc Quevauvilliers, said they weren’t discouraged by the mountains of newly deposited waste.
“This is an ongoing project. Yes, after the big storm there are a lot of new trash that washed up on the beach, but through community support we have cleared tons of waste in the past,” said Quevauvilliers.
Johnson echoed his sentiments saying: “I would hate to see what the river mouth and beach would look like if we did not facilitate these clean-ups. We are now hoping to join forces with other organisations such as Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) and corporate companies to educate communities 20 kilometres upstream towards the Indanda dam,” he said.
An elated Johnson said Saturday’s clean-up had been their biggest event thus far, as hundreds of people rolled up their sleeves to tackle the litter.
Bart Fokkens, of DUCT, said while the recent rains caused massive pollution at the river mouth and within the ocean, such events were necessary and beneficial to the environment.
“The floods rejuvenated the river system and deposited a massive silt load at the river mouth. At the moment there
is a shortage of sand on our beaches,” he said.
View our gallery of the event here.
