70th Story Writing Competition / "Protecting the Environment"

We all have a responsibility to protect the environment since pollution has become a serious worldwide problem. I want to participate in this contest and motivate people to take action.

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Your story……..

Salvador is a young boy belonging to a Scout group in his region, where there are many beautiful, lush beaches. Tourism is the livelihood of many families. However, when tourists leave, they always leave a lot of trash on the beach, and little by little, it accumulates. There isn't enough time to remove it all when the tourists return, and they continue to leave their trash and garbage. Salvador, along with his fellow Scouts, decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness about this issue and encourage tourists to take their trash with them or at least leave it in designated areas.

As children between the ages of 11 and 14, Salvador and his friends face several challenges in carrying out their campaign. They post notices that littering on the beach is prohibited, and they hand out flyers to people in their cars as they enter the area, but tourists ignore their instructions. One of the boys approaches a group of tourists who were throwing some waste candy and soda packaging into the air to be carried away by the wind and says...

My story……

Deepal was the smallest boy on the team, but very bold. He stepped forward, taking a deep breath. His voice was a little tremulous, but his words were very firm.

"Hello, excuse me sirs and madam…., please don't throw your trash on the beach. Our main aim is to protect this place. Turtles may be harmed by this trash because they frequently visit this area to lay their eggs.

"This is not the big one; it is small things. The sea takes care of that,” the tourists responded, laughing at Deepal.

Deepal was shocked by the answer from the tourists, but Salvador put his hand on Deepal's shoulder and said, "Deepal, don't take all these too seriously; we will keep trying."

That evening, after they returned to their Scout base, they gathered under the large tree behind their base. At that moment, the sun was setting, painting the sky with blue and orange colors.

Salvador, as a leader of the group, said, "We should do something else that they can remember and notice."

The smartest, tiniest girl, Kamani, of the group, raised her hand. "How about if we make something beautiful with the trash they leave behind?"

Everyone turned to Kamani curiously. "What do you mean?" asked Salvador, who usually preferred work more than talk.

"We can make something like a big sculpture. We can collect trash and turn it into something they will stop and see.

Everyone agreed with that idea. The next two weekends, the Scouts woke up early and walked along the beach with gloves and sacks. They collected all the trash, such as plastic bottles, beer cans, fruit juice cans, polythene bags, leftover wrappers, and even old beach balls. Next, they cleaned them and sorted them by color, size, and shape.

They then used sticks, glue, nets, and their creativity to create sculptures on the beach. They built a big dolphin using plastic water bottles. Using plastic bags, they made a giant jellyfish. Out of the multicolored wrappers that were left over, they created a sea turtle. Closer to every sculpture, they placed a sign:

"These are the things we leave behind. These are the things that the ocean sees."

When the tourists began to arrive the following weekend, they stopped at the sculptures. They took snaps, and the children asked questions. Some people teared up. Some laughed, and some felt guilty.

After looking at those sculptures, one man picked up a bottle and put it in a bin nearby. Some looked at each other, whispering, "Let's not leave our trash here again."

The Scouts watched all these sitting under their favorite tree. For the first time, Scout Group's eyes filled with hope.

The news of the beach art spread throughout the area. A local news crew came and filmed a short story about the Scout group. Even the people from nearby towns came to visit the sculptures. When the mayor heard this news, he visited this place and promised the group to install more bins and signs.

When Salvador saw a family of tourists carefully packing their trash into a bag before departing, he smiled. Once shocked, Deepal now addressed the tiny group with confidence in their effort.

The beach is not yet perfect; there were some bits of trash. However, some change has begun. The Scouts team not only cleaned the beach but also awakened people's hearts.

That was just the beginning, Salvador thought.

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Thank you for reading my story.