A DIY guide to keeping a beach clean
After the clean up
Having worked night shifts in US time zones at a BPO in Dematagoda for the US Healthcare industry Blain Spittel saved up and decided “it was time to give back instead of continuing to take”. “If you look at it, from a broader perspective, we always take,” says Blain, “You go to the beach, you take. You swim, you take. You have a picnic, you take,” and questions “What do you give back?”
To Blain who visits Batticaloa frequently it is the most beautiful town in Sri Lanka. He fell in love with its beaches, the bay, the spit, and even the surreal pine forest planted following the tsunami. However, it was the trash speckled across the landscape that caught his attention, especially the plastic. Having expressed a wanting to do something about the situation, Blain’s acquaintances pointed him to the Oxford College, in Batticaloa, where there was a need for a Spoken English instructor and things took off from there.
Students involved in the clean up
Once Blain joined the college and became familiar with the students he learned Tamil, and also introduced music into the process of learning. He taught his students past-tenses through Coldplay’s Paradise. Eventually he convinced the College to allow students to engage in an eco-project of his design. The students were not imparted with any knowledge on ecology and environment at the time. Here was Blain’s process to a successful Navalady Beach clean up
1. Get students on board with the idea.
2. Secure Municipal Clearance from the Municipal Commissioner.
They agreed to assist by providing a tipper and two tractors, on May 1 as well as Municipal Council staff on site.
2. Hire a private bus to transport students. Of the 60 who had registered to partake in the project, 30 students turned up.
2. Distribute garbage bags and instruct students on what to collect.
A square kilometre was cleaned, through pine and sand, as each student grabbed a garbage bag and ran with it.
“I knew that putting them in groups wouldn’t help. Within 10 minutes, they were working as friends among friends.”
The first hour was ‘full energy’, and, then, they wanted a break.
3. Give the students a break
Refreshments were provided, with a local favourite of vanilla essence infused sugar water, as well as drinking water. The students then went back to work.
4. Stop for lunch
Oxford College provided lunch for the 30 students, catered by one of the restaurants that were open on May Day. After successfully cleaning up and having all the trash loaded into the Municipal Council vehicles, the students washed their hands and sat down to lunch under the pine and were reminded to clean up after themselves.
5. Put up a signboard with a message
to keep the beach clean
Two bins were allocated and placed at the Navalady Beach by the Municipal Council, for visitors to use.
The director of Oxford College then asked students for their feedback on the eco-project. The students were encouraged to speak in English, had they not been able to the class itself would have been a failure, let alone the eco-project. Though some felt reluctant and spoke in Tamil, others were asked to translate to English, and, one boy from Kattankudy spoke confidently, facilitating the translation.
To the surprise of many a guitar was brought out, and the chords to Coldplay’s Paradise were played, and the words were sung. A Beatles’ song which Blain had taught them in class for its use of conjunctions was also sung.
The students would continue to converse in song, with the boys on one side and the girls on the other with one boy standing up and performing a poetic monologue from his O Level drama practical, in Tamil.
“It was great to experience the different vibes of culture and society, in that moment,” Blain says, “I don’t think I could have experienced the same in Colombo, there’s just something about the people of Batticaloa.”
6. Follow up with Municipal Council
and make sure it stays clean.
Having started teaching at Oxford College in February this year, Blain was able to lead 30 students, a few Municipal Council workers, and two friends from Colombo, into cleaning up the Navalady Beach at minimal cost. He feels that he was given the opportunity to give back more than he took.
Blain Spittel lives in the back room of a little shop that sells cool drinks and nicknacks on Bar Road, Batticoloa, and wakes up, every morning, to the view of the sunrise over the lagoon.