Lisa Christensen and Nissa Marion of HK Clean Up
The city’s streets might look fairly clear of rubbish, but don’t let that fool you. Lisa Christensen (R) and Nissa Marion (L), organizers of HK Clean Up—an annual volunteer trash-collecting competition—talk to Yannie Chan about Hong Kong’s litterbugs.
HK Magazine: What makes you so passionate about picking up trash?
Nissa Marion: When I first moved to Hong Kong, I thought the city was clean. But when I first joined HK Clean Up in 2003, which was founded by Lisa, I saw a beach filled with garbage: plastic bottles, plastic bags... I was shocked that a place that seems as clean as Hong Kong does could actually have so much trash. So I asked if I could volunteer more with HK Clean Up, and eventually became the manager of the organization. But HK Clean Up is not so much about getting trash off the streets as it is about letting people see how much trash there is. When you walk through the streets of Hong Kong, people are like, yeah the streets are pretty clean, and they are, because we have thousands of city workers taking trash away every day.
HK: Where [and when] in Hong Kong do you find the most trash?
Lisa Christensen: Around September. Because of the tides, the beaches on Lamma, Lantau and anywhere close to the Pearl River Delta are hit really badly. And then also the Sai Kung area. The trash is mostly from Hong Kong.
HK: How does trash end up in the ocean and then on the beach?
NM: Trash escapes either in transit to the landfill, or right from trash cans that are poorly designed, or from the landfill during rainy and windy days. Or people drop things in the country park.
LC: Usually people aren’t dropping trash near the ocean, but in the city and country parks, and the wind blows them into the ocean. That’s why we began with the coastal cleanup challenge to make people aware that the problem of trash-filled beaches starts right here at home.
HK: What’s the HK Clean Up experience like for you?
NM: I actually have lost count of how many times I’ve been moved to tears by some child that comes up to me and says, “I’m never using plastic bottles again.”
LC: A couple years ago, we did a beach cleanup with a very large, publicly listed company in Hong Kong. The chairman of the company was there, working alongside the tea lady. They were both trying to get this rope out of this rock. Most of these people have never met the chairman. To see them working together to clean up trash... that’s what is lovely about Hong Kong.