Yeung Ting (known as “Tai Bin Mui”) is a freelance environmental educator who has practised an eco-friendly lifestyle since 2009. She is committed to addressing the issue of marine litter. She set up a social media page under her childhood nickname, “Tai Bin Mui” (literally meaning “Poop Girl”), to promote environmental protection. Between 2021 and 2022, she helped organise the “Here In Nature” project, recruiting members of the public to carry out regular monthly clean-ups of mountain trails and coastlines. Using a citizen science approach, the project also recorded the quantity and types of rubbish to create a waste database. Shui Hau Wan was one of the main beach clean-up locations. Over the years, she has witnessed the problems caused by marine litter and has called on visitors to Shui Hau Wan to take their rubbish away and help protect the local ecosystem.
After a typhoon struck in 2020, I responded to a beach clean-up initiative started by a netizen and went to Shui Hau Wan to clear litter for the first time. I later helped organise My Nature Diary1. From 2021 to 2022, I joined the beach clean-ups every month and documented the types and weights of marine waste, mainly at Shui Hau Wan.
The project invited people from across Hong Kong to get involved, and we also worked with schools and businesses to organise events. We recorded the types and quantities of waste collected using a citizen science approach. With that, we built a database of hiking trail and marine waste. It served as the basis for promoting environmental education and advocating green policies. It also gave us a better idea of where we should focus our efforts to tackle the problem of coastal litter. Through beach clean-ups, participants got to understand the relationship between humans and marine debris, and what changes could be made in their everyday lives. For example, plastic bottles consistently make up the largest part of marine waste, so we encourage people to start by changing their habits, cutting back on bottled drinks, recycling properly, and not simply throwing away bottles where they’ll end up in landfill.
Beach clean-ups were mainly held at Shui Hau Wan because it was easy to get to. The participants could reach the mudflats after getting off the bus at Shui Hau Village and walking for 10 minutes along a small path. Also, rubbish accumulated very quickly at Shui Hau Wan. Our volunteers went there every month to clean it up, and each time they collected around 200kg of litter. You could never get to the end of it!
Shui Hau Wan has long been one of Hong Kong’s marine waste hotspots.2 As early as 2015, the government included it as one of the marine refuse priority sites to be tackled.3 Geographically, Shui Hau Wan is a sheltered bay that opens to the east. Once litter gets blown into the bay by sea winds, it easily builds up on the mudflats. That’s why Shui Hau Wan is one of the hardest-hit areas after every typhoon. Even though many people volunteer to clean up the beach, litter remains a big problem.
The project invited people from across Hong Kong to get involved, and we also worked with schools and businesses to organise events. We recorded the types and quantities of waste collected using a citizen science approach. With that, we built a database of hiking trail and marine waste. It served as the basis for promoting environmental education and advocating green policies. It also gave us a better idea of where we should focus our efforts to tackle the problem of coastal litter. Through beach clean-ups, participants got to understand the relationship between humans and marine debris, and what changes could be made in their everyday lives. For example, plastic bottles consistently make up the largest part of marine waste, so we encourage people to start by changing their habits, cutting back on bottled drinks, recycling properly, and not simply throwing away bottles where they’ll end up in landfill.
Beach clean-ups were mainly held at Shui Hau Wan because it was easy to get to. The participants could reach the mudflats after getting off the bus at Shui Hau Village and walking for 10 minutes along a small path. Also, rubbish accumulated very quickly at Shui Hau Wan. Our volunteers went there every month to clean it up, and each time they collected around 200kg of litter. You could never get to the end of it!
Shui Hau Wan has long been one of Hong Kong’s marine waste hotspots.2 As early as 2015, the government included it as one of the marine refuse priority sites to be tackled.3 Geographically, Shui Hau Wan is a sheltered bay that opens to the east. Once litter gets blown into the bay by sea winds, it easily builds up on the mudflats. That’s why Shui Hau Wan is one of the hardest-hit areas after every typhoon. Even though many people volunteer to clean up the beach, litter remains a big problem.
There are two ways to reach the mudflats at Shui Hau Wan. One is a 10-minute walk from Shui Hau Village via the football pitch at Wan Lung. The sand and gravel there are coarser, and the litter is mostly plastic bottles, so clean-up is relatively straightforward. The other entry point is along a footpath through the wetlands. That part of the beach has dry sand and a grassy area, where small pieces of litter tend to accumulate. The trickiest spot is the mangroves near the freshwater stream. As the tide comes in and out, the waves keep hitting the mangroves. Long, rope-like litter such as plastic bags, rope, tape and face masks get tangled in the mangrove branches. They look like Christmas trees. Separating the litter from the mangroves is very time-consuming. It took me three to four hours to fill one small bag. From what I observed, Shui Hau has more T-shirt bags than other east-facing beaches on Lantau.
There's also a large stretch of mangroves and coastal vegetation along the shore where rubbish gets caught. At the back of the beach, there grows a mangrove-related plant called sea hibiscus. Our volunteers can hardly get in to clear the litter because the plant has tangled roots and the mangroves around it are very dense.
There's also a large stretch of mangroves and coastal vegetation along the shore where rubbish gets caught. At the back of the beach, there grows a mangrove-related plant called sea hibiscus. Our volunteers can hardly get in to clear the litter because the plant has tangled roots and the mangroves around it are very dense.
I love the intertidal and mangrove ecosystems. Every time I went to Shui Hau Wan for a beach clean-up, I didn’t just pick up litter but I also kept an eye out for the animals around me, especially the crabs. There are many types of crab species on the Shui Hau mudflats, like hermit crabs and fiddler crabs, but my favourite is the soldier crab. It doesn’t look like a real crab. It’s quite cartoonish, somewhat like a plastic toy. Its blue-purple body is round like a little ball, which is why it’s also called the “marble crab”. Other crabs walk sideways, but this one walks forward in a straight line. It’s really cute and unique.
In other countries, I've seen soldier crabs migrate in large groups like an army. They were completely unbothered by people walking past them. But the ones in Hong Kong are wary of humans. I wonder if that’s because many visitors come to dig for clams in summer, which may be why the crabs are more sensitive to their surroundings. At the slightest disturbance, they'll spiral down into the sand and mud, and they simply won’t come back out easily. But you can still tell they’re there because they leave traces after digging through the mud to feed, and the digging makes a loud sound. Whenever I spotted them, I would crouch down and quietly watch and take photos. I often thought to myself that the whole point of keeping up with these beach clean-ups was to help keep these little crabs’ home clean.
Shui Hau Wan's ecosystem is rich, so we need to preserve and safeguard this place properly. Tourists tend to head straight onto the mudflats to dig for clams. They rarely pay attention to the litter piling up near the shore. I hope they will be more mindful. Other than digging for clams, I hope they remember to take away their rubbish with them. Ideally, everyone would strip one “Christmas tree” clean before leaving! I also hope people will keep looking into what causes all the rubbish to build up in Shui Hau and monitor the situation. It’s a matter of tackling the problem at its root and taking better care of nature.
Shui Hau Wan's ecosystem is rich, so we need to preserve and safeguard this place properly. Tourists tend to head straight onto the mudflats to dig for clams. They rarely pay attention to the litter piling up near the shore. I hope they will be more mindful. Other than digging for clams, I hope they remember to take away their rubbish with them. Ideally, everyone would strip one “Christmas tree” clean before leaving! I also hope people will keep looking into what causes all the rubbish to build up in Shui Hau and monitor the situation. It’s a matter of tackling the problem at its root and taking better care of nature.
