Pauline Li Gaudefroy
Danna Yoon
A few weeks ago on September 24th, 2023, up to 300 participants in the Kanto region joined together for a beach cleanup in Higashihama to commemorate International Coastal Cleanup Day. This event was organised by a group called SEGO, whose slogan is “Doing Good Together.” This initiative’s goal is to raise awareness about environmental challenges through organising these beach cleanups for both foreigners and local Japanese people.
On this day, 11 Saint Maur High School students joined in on this activity. To start off the day, participants got to choose between a yoga session and zumba dance session before they started picking up trash. Afterwards, whilst the people were collecting trash, the Saint Maur students were asked to set up a booth that provided lunch for the participants.
To gain more insight on this experience, we interviewed participant Yunseo (G9): “Talking to people and giving food made me feel like I am actually helping in [something important]and after serving all of the food, I was proud of myself that I did helpful work.”
Luckily, there are more of these eventful days coming. One in April as well! As SEGO’s beach cleanups continue to grow in participation and impact, we look forward to seeing more faces join this eco-conscious movement.
SEGO beach cleanup group photo
Pauline Li Gaudefroy