bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Kylie Knott

Images of Hong Kong beaches covered in rubbish have become a common sight on social media.
In a rare statement, the Environmental Protection Department recently said, “We suspect that the floods in mid-June on the mainland might have brought the refuse to the sea and then the refuse is brought to Hong Kong by the southwest monsoon wind and the sea currents.”
In pictures: the tide of trash swamping Hong Kong beaches
The news sent social media into mainland-bashing over­drive, with Hongkongers calling on Guangdong to help pay for the clean-up. But wander along our beaches of a morning – especially after a hot weekend and before the army of amazing cleaners have done their thankless job – and it’s obvious that not all the rubbish is washed ashore.

Rattan beach mats are left behind with plastic bottles, beer cans and packets of food arranged around spots where people once sat like a murder-scene chalk outline.
Fine litterbugs and make them clean up beaches in Hong Kong
Plastic beach toys are also discarded; people seem to prefer to buy their kids a new (and cheap) set of toys each time they visit the seaside instead of taking the used set home (growing up on a beach in Australia, I had the same bucket and spade for my entire childhood).
Island of trash: giant rubbish tip at Wailingding Island is a Hong Kong environmental ‘disaster waiting to happen’

At 6am one Monday, I came across a pair of sunglasses and a pack of playing cards that had been left behind as if their owners had just evaporated or been beamed up by aliens. Apathy seems a more likely explanation.
Please Hong Kong, stop blaming our mainland neigh­bours for the lap sap on our beaches and put your rubbish in one of the (many) bins provided.


OPINION: Hongkongers, stop bashing mainland over city’s filthy beaches

A clean-up operation on Cheung Sha beach, Hong Kong .

This image shows plastic and other litter washed up on a beach close to Long Ha Wan, in Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong. 07MAY16 [10MAY2016 FEATURES] Photo: SCMP/Tessa Chan

This image shows trash and rubbish left by beach goers on Shek O beach, Hong Kong on August 08, 2016. [RANT POST MAGAZINE] SCMP / Kylie KNOTT

Magazines

PostMag

Lifestyle

Walk along any beach in Hong Kong and it is obvious the recent rubbish pile-ups have not all been washed ashore
