In the time of coronavirus outbreak, the most popular activity for Hongkongers turned out to be hiking without mask. During this period, there were many cases of hillfires while a considerable amount of used masks was scattered around forests as spotted by various trail users. Sticking to “doing the right thing” as Eco-Ranger – it is both responsibility and love to protect our country parks.
In order to promote the messages of “Leave No Trace” and “Take Your Litter Home”, CA set up an educational booth at Tai Lam Country Park on 15th March 2020. Eco-Ranger, the leading protagonist of CA’s annual orienteering competition “Eco-Rangers”, along with two other villains, Flame Thrower and Plastic Trasher, were present for the occasion. We hoped that all hikers could join the team of Eco-rangers to defeat Flame Thrower and Plastic Trasher, who caused the numerous cases of hillfires and responsible for the plastic wastes at country parks respectively.
That day, many hikers passed by and wrote down promises related to “hiking etiquettes” such as ‘protect the environment’, ‘don’t throw trash’ and ‘take your masks home’. We noticed that quite a lot of responsible hikers brought their own garbage bags; some hikers always wearing their masks, but there were also quite a few hikers took off their masks even when surrounded by other hikers. We kept reminding these hikers to protect themselves under the on-going pandemic in hopes to avoid turning our country parks into virus hotbeds!
Furthermore, Eco-Ranger and the CA Team picked up trash along the trails with big garbage bags in the afternoon. That same evening, we asked the question of ‘Guess where are the best places to find trash?’ on Instagram, while not many people answered correctly. Much trash was found at less noticeable spots like between the gaps of wooden benches, tree branches, fences and beside railings, etc. And we also found garbage at some IG-worthy spots even. It was a bit disappointing because no one would like to see any food packages or fruit peels when enjoying the marvelous view! On the other hand, trash was hardly noticeable around the ‘Please Take Your Litter Home’ notice board. From such observations, we think most of the Hongkongers aware that littering is wrong, but sometimes reminders are indeed necessary as many are littering for convenience’s sake at the less noticeable spots along the trail.
We believe that Hongkongers can do better. Let’s bear “Take Your Litter Home” in mind and bring a garbage bag with you when hiking! Let’s “Leave No Trace” and protect our environment together with Eco-Ranger!
Share love in time of coronavirus
Apart from environmental education, we were also determined to continue CA’s community work in time of coronavirus. In March, CA was invited to join wall painting work at a social enterprise called Dignity. The cooks there have their own inspirational stories as the food they made is not only warmed by stove but also warmed by care and kindness. Let us all treasure what we have, share love and positive energy during this difficult period and do more for the community!
