Mangkhut

Volunteers continue to show up and clean up all around Hong Kong.

Dedicated residents are responding to the biggest storm in history — Super Typhoon Mangkhut cleared vegetation and exposed decades of plastic that has been inaccessible until now.

People power means regular correspondence with government officials, meetings scheduled with public interest groups to discuss solutions and media coverage raising awareness and providing the public with all available information to change our plastic thinking.

The conversations, like this one on Facebook, invites collaboration and photo sharing is a key component to coming to terms with the scale of the situation we face.

Popular ideas being exchanged include a container deposit scheme, improved recycling facilities and banning microbeads in Hong Kong.

From Aberdeen to Sai Kung, Stanley to Lantau, groups continue to gather and bring attention to our shorelines where plastic and polystyrene return as fast as it can be collected.

As important as it is to remove the rubbish, the real work is done with the raising of awareness. Every person who puts on gloves and picks up a bag comes face to face with our cultural habits of convenience and waste contributing to the mountains of trash with no place to go.

There is no away.

More: Join a Pop-up Cleanup | Organize a Pop-up Cleanup | Support volunteers