Beach cleaning operation: the first results

According to Mark Twain, the beauty of Mauritius is of divine origin. However, the preservation of its beautiful beaches is everyone’s responsibility. Conscious of our duties towards our communities – travellers, residents, neighbours – we have subscribed to the Signatir agreement engaging us to carry out eco-responsible and sustainable actions. That’s why Mythic Suites & Villas employees put on their gloves and clean up the beaches around our resort monthly.

Preserving life

Mauritius is fortunately spared from the pollution of plastic objects of all kinds that can be found in other islands. The marine flora and fauna are of great diversity but remain vulnerable to all forms of pollution.

Unfortunately, the decomposition of plastic is extremely long: a plastic bag will take 450 years to decompose. If left on a beach or carried by the wind into the sea, it will be swallowed in micro-particles by fish and seabirds or could kill a sea turtle. A soft drink can will rust and a glass bottle could injure a summer visitor. A cigarette butt carelessly dropped into the sand takes between 1 and 2 years to disappear. Aware of the expectations of our customers, our teams at Mythic Suites & Villas clean the beaches around our resort monthly.

Sustainability as a goal

Sustainability is a socio-ecological process characterised by a behaviour in the pursuit of a collective vision. To engage in a sustainable project is to choose to preserve and to keep the environment healthy. As the beaches are the image of Mauritius but also the vulnerable habitat of its fauna and flora, their monthly cleaning ensures that the travellers keep on enjoying them.

July’s Green Day campaign

On 9 July, our volunteers, with great dedication and a strong awareness of the issue, collected and tidied up the beautiful Melville beach in Grand-Gaube. This secluded beach on weekdays is visited by more people at weekends.

In total, more than 200 kg of waste of all kinds were collected and sorted out by two teams: Go Green and Phoenix. To motivate the volunteers, a challenge for the best collection team has been organized until December.

Involving the relevant partners

Thanks to this successful initiative, the clean-up operation will be repeated every month. However, we would like to involve more people in the collection process, particularly by taking action at source. The idea is to raise awareness among the villagers, and especially among young people who pay more attention to ecology and are aware of our shared responsibility, to preserve the environment through education.

The island character of Mauritius makes it particularly vulnerable to all forms of pollution. It is always possible to do something about it. By adopting the proper habits, by limiting our footprint, by cleaning up the places we have visited and enjoyed, we actively participate in improving the natural beauty of our beloved country.