This week I went to Cancun Mexico, so I took it upon myself to do some cleanup there. With this plan in mind, I walked down to the beach from my hotel with a plastic bag and some gloves. I also went with my parents so we could clean even more. I really enjoyed cleaning there because the day before I went scuba diving and being amongst all the marine life really helps put in perspective what you are helping when collecting garbage.
One of my biggest successes was finding plastic utensils and dishes. These were very common because my hotel was all-inclusive, so people didn’t really care about returning their dishes. I also found a lot of wrappers which I find a lot at the river near my house. And finally, I found a lot of broken glass. I try to be extra careful when collecting glass because of its sharp edges.
My biggest challenge was the heat. It was very hot there, so I tried to go a bit later in the day, but it still didn’t help. In addition, despite using sunscreen I burned my shoulders. My other challenge was sargassum. This is when mountains of seaweed surface from underwater and covers the beach in seaweed, it is an annual event. With that being said a lot of the beach had seaweed on it and if it wasn’t there, I would have had more area to clean.
Next time I will be meeting with my group because I have yet to have done so. Although I am happy cleaning on my own, I look forward to collaborating with my group. The group will also collect more garbage than myself or my parents, which is a positive. I also plan to bring a hair tie next trip because I didn’t have one in Mexico, and it made it surprisingly more difficult.
Hey Ceilidh,
I’m so glad you could still complete a nature cleanup even though you weren’t here in Canada. Getting your family to help was very smart of you to do. With a group, it’s easier to clean up more and keep each other motivated. I also find it amazing that you encouraged others to help and they might even be encouraged enough to do it on their own now! Hotels can be very dirty and cleaning the trash must not have only helped the environment but also the staff working there. I’m sure you and your family made a big difference in their community.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next blog posts. Good luck! -Itzel
Hi Ceilidh!!
It is amazing how you brought your project with you to Cancun. I love how you went out of your vacation time to help clean up the beach. I like how you are helping the environment as you get to see the marine life under the sea. I also like how you decided to meet up with a group to help faster the process and collect even more garbage on the beach. I cannot wait for your next post.
-Estella
Hi Ceilidh,
It is very impressive how you even did your project while travelling in Mexico, and you were very observant on what’s happening in the hotel as well.
Good job and good luck on your next post.:D
Hey Ceilidh,
It’s so inspiring that you strived to finish your action project even though you were on vacation! It’s awful that people could be careless enough to leave litter while at an all-inclusive resort. Unfortunately, this is probably common at other hotels too. At least you took it upon yourself to help the environment there. Good luck with your next clean-up in a group!
Mahdiya A.
Hello Ceilidh, I find it very inspiring that you still continued your project while in Mexico, it is great that you are able to think about actions that can help improve the earths health while in a different country! While readin I saw that you mentioned you hotel was all inclusive, and I found that very strange as I have personally never been to an all inlusive hotel, but I hope while having garbage can be annoying, that people in inclusive hotels can find other garbages to throw their items in rather then the beaches! I wish you luck on your project as it sounds very interesting, and looking forward to more blog posts!!
Hey Ceilidh! It’s so cool of you to have thought of an idea like this. I find that it’s all too common that we see this from people, with complete ignorance in regard to the effect that their actions are causing, particularly littering. These individuals, whether consciously or unconsciously, cause a negative effect on their surroundings by damaging the environment as well as the experience of other guests. On top of this, the disrespect towards hospitality workers that this shows is honestly gross. Yes, these people are being paid to keep the establishment clean and tidy, but that does not mean that you should make their job any more difficult than it needs to be. If you can make someone’s life easier with practically no effort, DO IT!
Hi Ceilidh,
It’s so impressive how you even tried to complete your project in Mexico! I also didn’t realize until you mentioned because your hotel was all inclusive, there were so many plastic utensils and dishes that people didn’t bother returning. This definitely is a common issue around the world as there are so many all inclusive hotels, and other places that include similar concepts with their packaging.
So far your project sounds like it’s going very well! Some place suggestions that your group can go to in the future are Mundy Park, around the school neighbourhood, trails, parking lots, and playgrounds.
Good luck and I look forward to more of your blog posts!