Hainan Island Residents Collected Two Tons of Garbage Thanks to Russian Activists

Photo is provided by the HelloSanya project
Photo is provided by the HelloSanya project

The first "Clean Game" in China was held on Hainan Island in the Sanya City District on February 23. The event was held with the support of the Blue Ribbons Ocean Conservation Association, community leaders and eco-activists.

"Protecting nature, we protect ourselves. The "Clean Games" is a very interesting approach. This is a great way to help our planet. We will be able to attract more caring people by this kind of games in the future", said the organizer of the "Clean Games" in China Darcy Liu.

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Дарси Лью. Фото предоставлено проектом HelloSanya
Дарси Лью. Фото предоставлено проектом HelloSanya

Fighting rubbish is one of the main problems on Hainan Island. Especially acute is the situation on the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin - most of the waste "sails" on the island from the sea. Local authorities are trying to maintain cleanliness in the area of tourist facilities. The Blue Ribbons association has been helping them to clean island beaches for more than ten years. But even so, the environmental situation continues to deteriorate with each passing year.

More than 100 people were attended in the "Clean Games". Among them are not only local residents, but also tourists, as well as temporarily foreigners on the island. The founder of the "Clean Games" Dmitry Ioffe and the project coordinator in the regions Dmitry Selin arrived to conduct an ecoquest in China.

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Фото предоставлено проектом HelloSanya
Фото предоставлено проектом HelloSanya

In total, the participants collected about two tons of garbage per game, and project coordinators sent half of the waste for recycling. The largest amount of garbage was collected by the team of sponsoring companies. In the second place was the Russian-speaking international team of girls from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, who live in China, and in the third place was a team of Chinese pensioners.

"I really liked the format of the event. It is much more interesting and exciting than just walking on the beach and collecting garbage, and most importantly that it is faster and more efficiently. Thanks to the game elements, you can attract children to an important and necessary business. This is great for environmental education that is not well developed in China”, said the member of the “Clean Games” Maria Huang.

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Фото предоставлено проектом HelloSanya
Фото предоставлено проектом HelloSanya

The ecological educational project "Clean Games" is a team competition for cleaning territories from garbage and waste separation. It originated in St. Petersburg in 2014. Since last year, the project has reached the international level, having interested eco-activists around the world. Ecoquests is the visiting card of the project. During the competition, young people collect and sort waste, clean up natural objects and get points for it. The winner is the team that collects more garbage. Each event takes 2-3 hours. Participants collect from 2 to 5 tons of garbage during a game, and about half of it is recycled. Events are held every week in different regions of Russia. 262 events have taken place since 2014. More than 20,900 people participated in them and more than 440 tons of garbage were collected. The project “Clean Games” became the winner of the RGS Award in the nomination “The Best Environmental Project” in 2018.