We’re always grateful when tourists make a point to pick up after themselves, but one group of Japanese visitors has gone way above and beyond by actually coming to Hong Kong for the purpose of collecting hundreds of kilograms of rubbish from our beaches.
Goodness knows we need it, after the summer our shores have had.
The 32-strong group, led by environmentalist Hiromasa Suzuki, paid their own way to Hong Kong and spent Nov. 25 to Nov. 29 picking up heaps of trash throughout Lantau’s beaches. The youngest member, Toma Kondo, is just 10 years old, SCMP reports.
He, along with the other eco-tourists (green gallivanters?), spent roughly JYP150,000 (HKD10,200) each to participate in Suzuki’s “Beach Clean-up World Tour”, according to 100 Most.
To inject a little fun into proceedings, organisers encouraged participants to dress up for “cosplay” cleanups, and join in a celebratory dance at the end of each day.
By the end of their trip, Suzuki said the industrious group had collected 135 huge sacks of rubbish, weighing a total of 552 kilograms.
It looks like we’re not the only ones who were completely blown away by the actions of Suzuki and his fellow countrymen, as they’ve been featured on the front pages of local newspapers, and their story has gone viral on social media.
Comments from Hongkongers on Suzuki’s Facebook page are unanimously grateful, thanking him and his cheerful cohorts for their tireless work. Much like when Filipina hikers were photographed collecting rubbish on the MacLehose Trail, many expressed shame that non-native Hongkongers had to clean up their messes.
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