They sweat a lot to keep beach clean!

Days of hard work put in by a group of volunteers under the umbrella Bahrain Beachcombers has finally begun to reap benefits. 

Littering by beachgoers has considerably reduced across Nurana Islands, according to these volunteers. 

Speaking to Tribune, Darren Schneder, the founder of Bahrain Beachcombers, said their efforts have sent a message to beachgoers who are now “reluctant” to litter the area.  

He said the fishermen have also been restraining from throwing away rubbish into the sea while fishing. 

“Over the years there has been less and less rubbish that comes back on the beach. What was on the beach initially has all been picked up; we know this by observing the oxidation on the plastic.  Now we continue to pick up the new rubbish left on the beach. The rubbish is not as much as it used to be, it is considerably less. There are also a lot less plastic bottles dumped into the sea by the fishermen. Clearly the government has said something to the fishermen.” 

He said the beaches at Nurana Islands were in a terrible state when he first began to clean them up four years ago. “I formed Bahrain beachcombers in 2014 after my visits to Nurana Islands. The pollution in that area drove me towards taking action. It was terrible to see how much trash was washed up on the beach and clearly something had to be done. Having been brought up in Australia where we are taught about pollution at an early age in schools, it was a natural thing for me to pick up and dispose of it somehow. I took the initiative and started the volunteer group.” Cleaning up Nurana Island beaches is especially important because it is a ‘catchment area’ - meaning marine debris from around the Island gets collected there, he said. 

“It is a catchment area, because of how the natural flow of the ocean is. This is good because catching the plastic is better than the plastic going around the island all the time. It is actually beneficial for the island to have that rubbish collecting in that area and even more beneficial by us picking up the rubbish.” 

He said that about 70 people on average turn up for his beach clean ups. “On a general beach-clean we get approximately up to about 70 people. It can be very fickle, you can get as little as 10 but we can get as much as 100. The number of people does not necessarily reflect how-much rubbish is picked up. Ten people can pick up an awful lot of rubbish, a hundred people could pick up not as much. 

“So I am never really worried about how-many people turn up as long as people turn up. Not only do we have general beach clean ups, we also have corporate beach clean ups, where companies as part of their corporate social responsibility come here to do the cleanup. There are also school clean ups where more than a hundred children come here to do the cleanup. Nurana Islands is ideal for corporate clean up and social clean up.”

When asked about his message to beachgoers, he said, “Just be more aware of where your rubbish goes, and make sure that your rubbish is disposed of correctly in the proper means and don’t drop rubbish where it shouldn’t be.”