A group of travelers arranged a beach cleaning programme at the beach of Saint Martin’s island from Friday to Monday morning after forming a self-motivated group. To help the beach returning to its natural state and to protect the bio-diversity of the island, this group took such attempt.
Locals of the area said that 40 members of Traveler of Bangladesh (ToB) from Dhaka came to the island on Friday to conduct beach cleaning activities. During the cleaning programme, they collected a total of 740 kilograms of plastic waste including non-biodegradable waste. Later, the group took the collected waste with them to make sure that the plastic waste is properly recycled and reused.
A total of 122 sacks of plastic waste was collected, members of the beach clean-up group informed.
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After being asked about the recycling process of the collected waste, Amina Sultana Sonia, a member of the group said that they have been conducting beach clean-up programme for last two years. Previously, they handed over the waste to the plastic collectors of recycling shops. These plastics were made into ‘plastic chips’ and was sold to recycle companies. This year, a kayaking and camping site owner adjacent to Dhaka expressed interest to use these plastic bottles and other wastes to make a floating barge. This will be used for making floating pontoon for tourists.
Why use plastic waste instead of recycling these industrially? Group members said that using leftover plastic waste for long term use can reduce cost for making new products and more eco-friendly for the nature. They also urged tourists not to throw waste products.
Travelers of Bangladesh conducted two such clean-up programme in Saint Martin’s Island in 2018 and 2019 and collected respectively 194 and 555 kilograms of plastic wastes. In addition of promoting adventure tourism, they arranged such clean-up programmes at many tourist spots in the country.
