The 1st Umbogintwini Scouts tackled the Umbogintwini Ridge on International Beach Clean Up Day on Saturday, 19 September. They tagged and bagged 17 refuse bags of litter within a 750m distance on the beach below the ridge. Littering does not create jobs, it destroys the environment. The Scouts learnt that people are not educated enough about the consequences of littering. “The environment is fragile and we should take better care of it,” said Eben de Wit,15.
It is not only beachgoers who litter on the beaches. Litter ends up in the oceans through stormwater that is washed down from rivers and drains. “I’ve learnt that people take advantage of nature. I also learnt that if we join hands together, we can not only make our beaches a better place, but the whole world,” said Andiswa Ngcobo, 14. The most common items collected were snuff containers, bottle tops, polystyrene, colddrink and milk bottles, beer bottles, lollipop sticks and wrappers. The most unusual items collected were single shoes, doll body parts, candles and a tiny guitar. There were also a number of fishing hooks on line, broken glass, a broken chair, a fishing net and a bag filled with muscles hidden in the sand. READ ALSO: Umbogintwini Scout upholds promise during lockdown Each item was photographed and registered on the Litterati app, which is empowering individuals to make a significant, measurable impact on the environment. Far more than just picking up litter, the worldwide community of users is building the most powerful crowd-sourced set of data on litter ever assembled. To date there are over 182 000 participants. Members all over the world have been able to use LitterData to get companies, organisations and governments to create positive environmental policy changes.