Looking back at the 2022 hiking season, TrailWatch and more than 30 users visited three Tseung Kwan O backyard trails for Waste Audit. A number of larger-scale waste dumpings were found, and the participants reported a total of 31 cases through the incident reporting function of the TrailWatch App. There is a wide variety of rubbish among the Tseung Kwan O backyard trails, and the Waste Audit reveals that cigarette butts and tissue paper are the top 2 rubbish in the area, with over 250 cigarette butts and nearly 400 tissue paper collected in the Wilson Trail Section 3 alone. There was also a relatively high amount of rubbish that is daily necessities products, such as cotton swabs, medicines and supplements.
We hope that Waste Audit can gather the efforts of our users and other hikers, to gradually make more people aware of the problem of waste dumping in the countryside. We hope to spread the message of ‘Take Your Litter Home’ and ‘Leave No Trace’.
A total of 2,702 pieces of rubbish were collected from Sept to November 2022.
The Commonly Found Rubbish in the Countryside:
◎ Plastic Bottles – 158 pcs (5%)
◎ Food Packaging – 416 pcs (12%)
◎ Anti-pandemic Items – 74 pcs (2%)
Other Rubbish – 2,054 pcs (81%)
Tseung Kwan O Backyard Trails’ Waste Audit:
Little Hawaii Trail: https://www.trailwatch.hk/blog/984
Duckling Hill
Wilson Trail Section 3: https://www.trailwatch.hk/blog/999