Let's go, beach cleaning

        Taiwan is an island surrounded by the sea on all sides, with rich marine landforms and resources. However, environmental pollution has caused serious damage to coastal ecology, leading to a wave of beach cleaning in recent years. In April, Oriental Petrochemical (Taiwan) also called on 110 colleagues and family members to respond to the "2023 Caoluo Sand Dune Marine Ecological Beach Cleaning and Energy Conservation and Earth Protection Campaign" and join the ranks of protecting the Earth.

                Although beach cleaning activities are often seen in Taiwan, it was the first time for me to participate in such a large-scale beach cleaning operation. After receiving gloves and linen bags from the entrance, walking along the trail to the Caoluo Sand Dune, there were enthusiastic people all the way. At the event site, there were even a sea of people, some of whom were residents around Caoluo, employees of nearby factories, environmental volunteers, and even tourists. Everyone wanted to contribute to the marine environment, which was very touching.

        Through the venue, you can see the view of towering sand dunes, which seems to be overseas in a moment. No wonder it has the reputation of "Taiwan version of Sahara". I walked with a joyful pace towards the top of the sand dune and looked into the distance. I saw a whole beach and an endless ocean, coupled with the gentle Shanghai breeze, which made me feel good and relaxed. However, when I looked around carefully, the garbage scattered on the beach and on the edge of the sand dune, such as plastic, paper, polyfoam, and discarded fishing gear, pulled me back to reality.

        Rectifying my mood, I put on my gloves, picked up a linen bag, and started picking up garbage. The first thing I found was a plastic straw. Although it is already closely related to our lives, if it is not properly disposed of and discarded arbitrarily, it can cause environmental pollution and even harm marine life. I remember reading a report before that a turtle had a straw stuck in its trachea, and the scene was very scary. Sometimes plastic bags can be mistaken by turtles for jellyfish and ingested by them, resulting in death. It is important not to be careless.

        Subsequently, I gradually picked up Poly Long, bento boxes, Baote bottles, etc. In a blink of an eye, the linen bags were already filled, and others also picked up a lot of garbage, even glass bottles floating from far away overseas. This also made me understand that environmental protection is not the responsibility of one area or one person, but the common responsibility of the people on Earth. After this beach cleaning, I even want to do my own for the environment, I hope to start by reducing artificial waste in daily life and participating more in environmental activities to pass on the beautiful scenery to the next generation.

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