By Our Chief Reporter
Baga (Goa) The unique 150-day public awareness campaign #TeraMeraBeach rolled out by Drishti Marine aimed at educating people, especially domestic visitors, on cleanliness and beach management along the coastal stretch will draw to an end later this week.
To mark the successful run of the awareness campaign, Drishti Marine along with Taal Inc will conduct a junk jam session using instruments made out of waste at the popular Baga beach on 15th April 2018. Additionally, the drum circle and a beach clean-up drive will be held at the beach where locals and tourists can come together to spread awareness on simple ways and means to keep Goa’s beaches clean.
A unique one-of-a-kind Waste Bar will be operational where beach goers can trade waste, including straws, cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, bottle caps and paper for beverages and sun-downers. The Waste Bar will be operational from 5.30pm to 8.30pm at the Oceanic Beach Shack on Baga beach.
Visitors and tourists can participate in the foot-tapping Junk Jam session and drum circle with their instruments made out of waste as the sun sets over the Arabian sea while also collecting waste which will go into the creating of an art installation. Participants can bring along their own instruments made out of waste at the event.
Noreen van Holstine who conceptualised the campaign along with Taal Inc will be conducting a workshop on 14th April 2018 at Museum of Goa (MOG) on creating simple musical instruments from waste. The workshop is open to all and without a cost. Material will be provided at the workshop. Participants are also welcome to bring along their own waste material. The instruments made at the workshop will be used at the Junk Jam session to be held on 15th April 2018 at Baga beach.
Ravi Shankar, CEO, Drishti Marine said, “We are delighted to complete 150 days of the #TeraMeraBeach campaign successfully. We started this campaign with an intention and aim to create
an awareness on beach clean-up and teach people about the importance of waste segregation. We believe we have been able to make a positive impact on that front.”
Added Noreen van Holstine who has partnered with Drishti Marine on this unique campaign, “The successful #TeraMeraBeach campaign was rolled out across the popular beaches of Baga, Miramar, Calangute, Candolim and Colva. The response has been phenomenal so far with visitors and tourists coming forward to participate and taking back the awareness that it is the responsibility of each of us to keep our beaches clean.”
The campaign consisted of daily drum circles lead by musicians from Taal Inc. followed by each participant of #TeraMeraBeach adding one piece from the collected waste to the community art installation. The art installation consists of bottles, cans, papers, cloth etc. collected by the participants during the clean-up drive.
#TeraMeraBeach aims to make visitors responsible and aware of the necessity to use bins along the beach, segregate waste and participate in beach clean-ups. This campaign is supported by Goa Tourism, Video Volunteers, Museum of Goa and Veab to raise awareness on keeping Goa’s beaches clean.
In a bid to improve the cleanliness on Goa’s beaches, the state government had reached out to Drishti Marine in December 2016 to step in and assist with garbage collection along the beaches to support the effort of the government. Accordingly, Drishti Marine has offered its assistance and mobilized manpower and equipment for clearing garbage from the beaches of Goa and the same is transported to the Saligao Waste Management plant. The agency has an existing framework which includes infrastructure and management capability to effectively carry out the exercise along the beaches.
