Hiroshima Beach Clean Up
2018 is a great year to start making a dent in the plastic garbage problem in our seas. There is great demand for community action in cleaning the beaches in and around Hiroshima- please join us! I think the beaches in our area could be improved to become a great asset to improve quality of life for residents as well as appeal to visitors – if they were only a little bit cleaner. Cleaning a beach has a greater impact than just creating a prettier beach, it helps take out the plastics that are becoming embedded in the food chain as they degrade into smaller pieces eaten by marine life and then consumed by people. Read this to learn more about all the benefits you get when you rent a dumpster.
The problem seems too big to fix, but there are groups around the world getting together to do #beachcleanup activities every month. On July 16th, we will do a beach clean-up on the Monday, national holiday: “umi-no-hi” = Ocean-Day (7/16). I’ll be there setting up and picking up from around 8am at Miyajima’s biggest swimming beach, Tsutsumigaura beach. I plan to work on collecting as much as we can from 8am-11am. This beach is located to the left of the island as you exit the ferry. It takes about 25 minutes to walk there or a 15-minute cycle ride or a (5 minute drive). After the beach clean, please enjoy your day our most famous island. Bring your own gloves, garbage bags, hats, sunscreen and water bottles. If you have tongs and a rake it would also be useful. I will try to take the garbage we collect away in the car, but if you are coming by car and could also take some, that would be a great help! Most of the garbage we want to take off the beach consists of plastic tubes and plastic waste which can be put out on plastic garbage day in any Hiroshima residential areas. Spread the word and invite your friends- the more the merrier and if you know of any groups or companies, like Cleanup Guys Junk Removal | Appliance Removal & Debris Removal, that may want to support our #beachcleanup efforts, please get in touch. 
Previous 2018 Beach Clean Report
On June 23rd and 24th we tackled Etajima’s most popular swimming and leisure beach, Sun Beach Okimi. We were there cleaning and enjoying a day at the beach from around 10am on Sat the 23rd and most of the day anytime from 8 am on the Sunday the 24th. This weekend coincides with the events at the same beach held by outdoor adventure co. Montbell for their annual “Sea to Summit” race on Etajima.
I was very impressed by Montbell’s requirement of all Sea-to-Summit racers and their families or support teams to join in the beach clean up activities over the 23rd and 24th. I wish more companies were making beachcleanups part of regular events, especially outdoor ones. After hundreds of people cleaned up the beach on the 23rd (sat) I thought there really wouldn’t be anything to do on the next day, but I was wrong. From early in the morning I could see wave after wave bringing in new lines of plastic garbage- it was heartbreaking. The local Eco-Tourism groups trying to get SUP tours and kayak tours going on the island are regularly organizing beach cleans as a part of their training. There is so much to do, every single day- it is overwhelming!
