It’s becoming a tradition to clean up around the Hoxbach in Hilden, Germany, a tributary of the River Rhine. On Saturday, 15 June for World Ocean Weak, a small group of inveterate ocean lovers invited by Mundus maris gathered in two groups to mob up cigarette butts, plastic and other garbage from the vicinity of the creek. As the saying goes, ocean protection starts at home.

Equipped with gloves, pincers and bags from the municipal garbage management agency and a shot of good will and determination, the teams set off shortly after 2 pm.

The good news: compared to previous years the teams found a lot less of the toxic cigarette butts. Coincidence or did previous information campaigns, including by local newspapers, and clean ups bear fruit? We would certainly like to believe to witness the beginning of some behavioural change.

Gathering again after about one and a half hours, the harvest was still some 11 kg of trash, numerically mostly diverse plastic wrappings, but also a few bottles, coke cups and even dypers. It was a good feeling to know all this could be properly disposed off. After this joint effort the team enjoyed well-deserved relaxation on the garden with coffee and home-made cake. A pleasant way to celebrate World Ocean week.