KNYSNA NEWS - When community member Robert Cloete and his family embarked on a Sunday stroll on Father's Day on 16 June, little did they realise their walk would turn into a mini beach cleanup.
Cloete and his family had opted to embark on the walk in an effort to "get out and enjoy the lovely weather" on Father's Day.
"But even if our slice of heaven does indeed look the part at first, the reality hits home when placed under the microscope, so to speak. It is such a beautiful area, and seems that way at first glance, but once one starts looking a little closer, this is not the case unfortunately," he said.
On their walk, the Cloete family decided to traverse the area where the Goukama River meets the sea near Buffalo Bay by walking along the coast away from Buffalo Bay. The family naturally had a small bag with them containing their water for the walk, but it soon turned into a rubbish bag.
"We spotted plastic bottle caps etc. initially, and started picking them up, and before long, we could not help but spot more and more rubbish," Cloete said. "Eventually this is what our entire walk turned into. Not a stroll along the 'beautiful beach', but a rubbish collection outing." He said the bag was eventually so full that they ended up carrying larger objects like plastic bottles in their hands.
Cloete was more upset about the damage done to the environment by the litter than anything else.
"It is sad to say the least, how we as humans pollute our environment."
He proposed a small way in which all us could make a difference on our walks: "If we could just all be more aware of our surroundings, and what we do with our waste, and of course what impact it has on the environment around us, I think it would go a long way to improving how our areas, beaches etc look," he suggested. "Perhaps you could take a collection bag with you if you go for a walk, be it around the block, at the beach, anywhere, and just pick up the rubbish you see and dispose of it into a bin."
The small bag which the Cloetes used to pick up rubbish. Photo: Robert Cloete
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