As mentioned in my previous post, my family and friends visited one of the northern atolls of the Maldives; we stayed on a secluded, agricultural island with only a handful of people occupying it. This atoll isn’t known for being the Number 1 vacation spot because there are very few 5-star resorts in the area. Many of the islands aren’t taken care of properly, so my friends and I used this as an opportunity to clean up the island a little bit. While there wasn’t a lot of trash in the ocean, there was a lot in one particular spot on the island. Erosion is a major issue on this island; there is a retaining wall on this island, most of the rubbish was found in this area. You could tell that the trash had been there for a while; we saw a tree that had grown through a flip-flop which says a lot. We managed to fill four bags of plastic; the area we cleaned was the only spot with that much trash; other areas either didn’t have any or only had a few plastic bottles, which, if we came across, picked up to discard properly. There were several fishing nets jumbled together and tied to a tree; it was cumbersome and became an ecosystem of its own. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do much about it. All in all, it was an excellent mini beach clean up; if I ever go to this island again, I plan on making sure it stays clean. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Outcomes: 

• LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
• LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
• LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
• LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.