Beach Cleaning in Dumas (Group Experience)

For my group CAS experience, we participated in Beach Cleaning. This was conducted on Dumas Beach near Surat, a popular local tourist attraction. It is visited by many people, which means that there is a lot of trash on the beach as people are very careless regarding their trash. Plastic and metal waste is very harmful to the local ecosystem as much of the trash ends up in the ocean, where it ends up killing aquatic life. As the ones who threw the trash in the first place, it is our responsibility to clean it up and not further damage the ecosystem. This was done in a group of 8 to ensure timely and swift completion. The project lasted for 4 weeks. Further, posters were electronically, which we had to learn how to do via YouTube, videos were also made in order to spread awareness of the issue and were posted in various locations both near and far from the beach.

Learning Outcomes

LO 3:- Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

We believed in the powers of the division of labour. Thus we assigned certain areas to each of the 8 participants. Also, we divided the responsibility to bring the things required for beach cleaning, such as Gloves, Bags, Refreshments etc. We also planned the days to visit the beach to collect the most amount of trash we could.

LO 4:- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Trash collection was a very difficult task as we had to work tirelessly in sunlight without shade and often get into muddy areas. But despite this, everybody was present on all days, and no one complained about anything. Our perseverance can be seen in the cleanliness of the beach after we cleaned it.

LO 5:- Demonstrate skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

The amount of trash on the beach was just too large due to the tourists’ carelessness. It would have been impossible to clean a large area all by one person, and it also would have been hard to provide all supplies. So working in a group allowed more possibilities to be achieved and get good results. The division of labour also allowed each of us to focus on our own work, some people were tasked with cleaning different areas, whereas a couple of people were tasked with making, printing and sticking posters.

LO 6:- Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

This experience deals with issues of pollution and ecological destruction. Pollution, or in this case, littering, is a major problem all over the world, particularly in tourist locations. It destroys the habitats of many creatures and disrupts the food chain. We were heavily affected by this reality, and this became a major inspiration in initiating this experience.

LO 7:- Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

After researching into the damages caused by pollution, especially on beaches and oceans, we could have just gained awareness and knowledge of it and not acted on it. But we decided to do something about it as it will indirectly affect our lives. Fishermen are already alarmed by the reduced amount of fish in the ocean and the number of plastics they catch instead. We were also trying to spread awareness about this issue through this activity and urging people to try to reduce single-use plastics.

The learner profile “communicator” was displayed here as communication was key in making a schedule and arranging transportation while making sure everybody was present on time. We also had discussions regarding the size of the area we should target to make it feasible for everyone involved.

Evidence:-

Video Proof