The Macao government has kicked off a series of summer beach cleanups to promote environmental awareness, beginning with last Saturday’s event at Hac Sá Beach, according to the Municipal Affairs Bureau (known by its Portuguese initials IAM).
Around 80 representatives from government departments, community groups, and private organisations – along with their kids – took part in the Hac Sá initiative, which was designed to encourage “parent-child cooperation,” IAM said.
Participants worked together to collect and sort rubbish for recycling, while various Government departments manned interactive booths on the beach to raise awareness on the likes of waste separation, marine protection and mosquito prevention.
[See more: Rainfall and upstream flooding leave Macao’s coast swamped with rubbish]
The events are held under the banner “Beautiful and Clean Beach – Take Your Trash with You.” The next is set to take place at Cheoc Van Beach this week, organised by the Environmental Hygiene Task Force under the city’s Beautification and Sanitation Working Group.
The group urged the public to take care of Macao’s beaches during the busy summer period. It recommended using biodegradable tableware and containers for picnics, and for people to take their own rubbish away with them when they leave the area.
The cleanups are part of an ongoing effort that follows a city-wide sanitation campaign held from April to May, aimed at promoting hygiene in both urban and coastal environments. They come after recent flooding and heavy rains in the upper reaches of the Pearl River washed large amounts of rubbish down to Macao.
