Domestic helpers tackle Hong Kong beach plastic pollution in extreme clean-up challenge
- Filipino Dynamos are a group of volunteers who spent their day off cleaning a remote beach on Hong Kong Island
- They are taking part in the month-long Adventure Clean Up Challenge to remove plastic trash from hard-to-reach areas
Armed with gloves, masks and rucksacks, 10 avid hikers rappel down a lush seaside canyon using fixed ropes. The morning downpour across Hong Kong Island makes the steep descent a muddy affair, but it doesn’t slow the group nor dampen their enthusiasm.
Near the base of the canyon, one by one, the women start snaking their way along a craggy rock face; anchoring their feet in crevasses and foliage, careful not to slip into the stream below.
The dense greenery quickly opens up to a rocky inlet. But this is no leisurely day at the beach; dropping into the cove, the women get to work, kitting up and pulling out heavy-duty bags to remove the mounds of plastic, polystyrene and discarded household objects that are suffocating this remote spot.
These Filipino women work as domestic helpers, and on a recent Sunday morning are spending their only day off cleaning up this hard-to-reach beach, near Hong Kong’s surfing Mecca, Big Wave Bay.