On Earth's Day this year, Greenpeace Malaysia organized a get-together to clean up Batu Caves. There were 40 volunteers, including some tourists and passers-by. I met some very passionate environmentalists on that day.
The day was hot, as it usually was every time I visited Batu Caves. The organizers provided water dispensers, to encourage people to bring their own bottles, instead of buying bottled drinks every time they got thirsty.
Before we began, a representative from the management of Batu Caves gave a short speech, telling us the history of the place and the current problems they are facing. Apparently, they do not receive any financial assistance from the government towards the upkeep of the place. And since they don't charge the tourists either, everything is being funded by people's donations. He thanked us for our efforts in helping them.
Then we started the cleanup, each of us with a trash bag and a pair of gloves. We found a lot of cigarette butts, straws, plastic bottles, and those round stickers given out by tour guides for their participants to stick on their shirts. Since there were many of us, we got the job done fairly quickly. These were what we managed to collect from the areas surrounding Batu Caves (but not inside the cave itself):
It was definitely an eye-opener, because we usually only see some trash here and there, and we tend to underestimate the amount. It's only when we start picking them up and accumulating them that we really see just how much there are, and most of them non-biodegradable. The event ended with the Greenpeace Malaysia Program Manager giving a talk and facilitating a Q&A session about the campaign.
And lastly, we took a group photo and a video for the press.
