A Mix of Adventure With a Purpose

While many will enjoy a morning walk along the Nasese seawall in Suva, Epeli Lalagavesi, 24, will be out at sea on his inflatable stand-up paddle board collecting bags of rubbish from the Suva seafront.

Mr Lalagavesi normally collects three bags of rubbish per day.

The Wainiika villager of Saqani, Cakaudrove, is a passionate advocate for oceans stewardship, traditional knowledge, reviving traditional navigation and disability.With rubbish pollution becoming a growing issue in the country, Mr Lalagavesi uses social media to create public awareness on the eyesore habit.

He called on people to be responsible citizens, saying: “The same respect you give to the moana of the ocean, the same respect they will give you. So, if you take care of the ocean, the ocean will take care of you.”

He said marine life was a habitat for many organisms and a vital essence on the growing ecosystem, but sadly, it’s been disturbed by the careless dumping of rubbish on our beaches, mangroves and coast.

“Almost every day I paddle out and I see rubbish and household goods floating in our mangroves swamps and by the shorelines and I’m trying to understand what the underlying issue is,” he said.  

“Whether people don’t have proper garbage disposals, or they missed the garbage dates, or what really puts them in a situation to literally dump household trash into our oceans.”

WOWS  KIDS  CHALLENGE

Mr Lalagavesi is always keen to take on challenges or initiatives to help give back to the community.

WOWS Kids Fiji, in partnership with the Suva Stand-up Paddlers (SUP), launched its WOWS-SUP initiative earlier this month to paddle more than 1000 kilometres to raise funds for children living with cancer.

Mr Lalagavesi was among those who took up the 14-day challenge and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Apart from covering 40 kilometres of paddling distance for the WOWS Kids challenge, he decided to challenge himself by collecting as much rubbish as he could while paddling.

“So, it’s a mix of adventuring with a purpose,” he said.

“On Day 3 (on Wednesday), I completed my 40km, but I’m going to continue as much as possible to contribute to the 1000km challenge.”

Epeli Lalagavesi collecting rubbish on his Stand-up paddle board.

SOME INFO ON EFFECTS OF OCEAN DUMPING

• Dumping of plastics or rubbish in rivers, creeks, oceans generate some toxic and greenhouse gases, which may in due course contribute to global warming activities or more severe environmental threats.
• According to a review made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on marine pollution, consumers and society must shift to more sustainable consumption patterns. 
• The review said two third of the world’s marine lives have been threatened with chemicals we throw down the drain every day such as household cleaners. These toxins not only affect marine life, but they affect humans as well.
• If garbage is dumped into the ocean, oxygen in the water could be depleted resulting in poor health for marine life. The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for action to ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources’ (Goal 14) and ‘By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution’.

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