As holiday crowds packed the city's trails, volunteers battled the mess in their wake—40 condoms, 2,000 cigarette butts, and 300 plastic bottles, all found in a single day.
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In an interview with Sing Tao Probe, Raymond, a restaurant owner in Sai Kung, expressed his deep dismay over the escalating pollution, which inspired him to initiate a volunteer clean-up team in 2016.
The volunteer team, comprising 10 to 20 members for each clean-up mission, has traversed many of Hong Kong's iconic trails, including Kowloon Peak, Lower Shing Mun Reservoir, High Island Reservoir, Cloudy Hill, Pok Fu Lam, and the Wilson and MacLehose Trails. Their commitment has even taken them beyond the city's borders to clean trails in Macau.
From 40 condoms to thousands of cigarette butts
Raymond revealed that the haul is always shocking, recalling a time they picked up over 40 condoms and more than 2,000 cigarette butts on Kowloon Peak alone.
A recent nine-hour clean-up at Cape D'Aguilar (also known as Hok Tsui) yielded an array of items: plastic bottles, aluminum cans, food containers, wine bottles, and even discarded clothing.
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Notably, litter was scattered across slopes, in drainage ditches, and even around popular photo spots like Thunder Cave and the famous whale skeleton display on the island.
The team ended the day with rubbish filling 17 to 18 bags, with abandoned tissues, drink bottles, plastic food containers, and cigarette butts making up over 70 percent of the waste.
"We see products from the mainland, Hong Kong, and all over the world. Left in the wild, they won't decompose, creating a huge burden on the environment,” Raymond lamented.
Facing a relentless tide of waste, Raymond admitted there is no quiet day—there's always a lot of trash.
He noted that their clean-up visit came just three and a half months after the last one, yet the trail was once again littered as if their efforts had made no impact.
Instead of placing blame, he emphasized personal accountability, stating, "Whether the litter is from the mainland, Hong Kong, or abroad, there are only two kinds of people: those with a sense of civic responsibility, and those without."
Simple yet inspiring wish
Despite the seemingly endless task, Raymond has a simple yet inspiring wish: that more hikers carry a pair of tongs and plastic bags to pick up a few pieces of trash along the way.
He recounted the story of a five-year-old boy who, after joining a clean-up in Macau, bought his own tongs and now picks up plastic bottles whenever he sees them on the street.
"It proves that education really does have to start from a young age,” he said.
For volunteer Kate, cleaning the Cape D'Aguilar trail is driven by the desire to protect Hong Kong’s natural beauty.
"It's so painful to see such a beautiful scene covered with trash," she shared, a sentiment that resonates profoundly within the volunteer community.
