When New Zealand surfer and spear-fisher Sam Judd was bitten in the left thigh by a shark while surfing at San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands in 2007, people asked him if he wanted to go fishing and kill a few sharks as revenge. For Judd, such an idea was unfathomable.
“I was playing in their environment, so I don’t blame the animal. I love sharks and enjoy diving with them to this day,” Judd tells the Taipei Times.
As he reported the shark attack to the National Park Office on San Cristobal, the staff learned of Judd’s clean-up efforts — a few days before the incident, Judd and his friend James Bailey were volunteering at a beach clean-up on Isabela Island, where they found plenty of dead animals trapped in plastic.
Photo courtesy of Sam Judd
It turned out that the National Park Office was planning to launch their own program to pay fishermen to take volunteers to pick up trash from the beach. Judd offered to help out, and together with other volunteers, ended up removing 7.5 tonnes of rubbish in half a day.
It was then that the idea to hold regular beach clean-ups came to Judd and Bailey. They returned to New Zealand, and in 2008, the duo co-founded Sustainable Coastlines, an Auckland-based registered charity that organizes coastal clean-ups and education awareness campaigns. Ironically, they have the shark to thank for that.
“Coming that close to death very much makes you think about what you are doing with your life,” Judd says.
Photo courtesy of Sam Judd
‘TIDY KIWI’
Following the successful launch of the Hawaiian chapter of Sustainable Coastlines and winning the Sport and Environment Award in 2013 for their clean-up efforts in Papua New Guinea, Judd went on to work with the UN Environment Program last month as an expert adviser assisting communities with waste minimization.
And now, Judd has set his sights on Taiwan, where he wishes to launch a new chapter of Sustainable Coastlines. He will be speaking at two separate workshops, at Beer and Cheese in Taipei on Wednesday and at Waiao Community Center (外澳社區活動中心) in the small surf town of Waiao in Yilan County on Nov. 14, where he will discuss strategies for successful clean-ups, increasing local involvement and running awareness programs. The talk at the community center will be followed by a beach clean-up.
Photos courtesy of Sam Judd
Although Judd was never an environmental activist before co-founding the charity, he’s always loved the beach and was taught not to litter from a young age.
“My grandmother used to tell me to ‘be a tidy kiwi’ and that still influences me today,” he says.
During his stay in Taiwan, Judd will be collaborating with Love Your Coast Taiwan, a Facebook community consisting of individuals and local businesses who have been organizing monthly beach clean-ups since April.
Photos courtesy of Sam Judd
Judd says that although it’s vital to adapt their educational programs for different countries — using local images, language and cultural values — the key elements of their approach remains the same.
The idea, he adds, “is to establish love for the environment in people, show them how their behavior impacts it and how they can change their behavior to improve it.”
TEAMWORK IS TANTAMOUNT
Photos courtesy of Sam Judd
The educational model arose from a realization that simply picking up trash wasn’t going to solve the wider problem of environmental pollution. Thus came the idea of launching awareness campaigns and holding presentations to convey to people the harmful effects of littering on the ecosystem.
Judd finds that training local community members to become educators and event organizers has been an effective strategy. Not only do they learn important career skills such as public speaking or project management, but it helps to put environmental awareness on the long-term agenda as well.
Up until the lifting of martial law in 1987, most of Taiwan’s coastline was closed off for military drills. As such, children didn’t play on the beach and grew up fearing the ocean. This is changing with the advent of surfing, local environmental activists speaking out and more hostels opening near the beach. But more can be done.
An important element is cultivating in children a love for the beach — whether through swimming, surfing or simply playing by the shore — along with respect for the environment. In fact, Judd believes the events for schoolchildren in New Zealand are so successful because they enjoy being out of the classroom.
“When everyone has fun at the beach, they tend to continue that good behavior,” Judd says.
While clean-ups aren’t an easy task — they require physical exertion, so remember to bring sturdy footwear, water and sunscreen — it’s essentially about working together for a good cause while having a good time.
“With lots of people all working together as a team, we can make it fun,” Judd adds.
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