LOCAL BEACHGOERS AND TOURISTS CONTINUE TO TRASH IPANEMA BEACH

NOTHING HAS CHANGED. MANY PEOPLE SHOW NO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS, EVEN DESPITE THE CLIMATE CRISIS CAUSED BY MAN'S IGNORANCE.  

I started plogging along the water's edge on Ipanema Beach in 2010 and in the 14 years of collecting plastic trash, beer bottles, dirty nappies, sanitary towels, take-away food boxes, biscuit wrappers, plastic bags and assorted garbage since then, I have seen little or no improvement in beachgoers' behaviour and environmental consciousness. In fact, the trashing of Ipanmea beach has just got worse.  

On 19/01/2025, the beach was jam-packed with people and there were volumes of trash on the sand between their beach chairs, next to the water's edge. Most of this trash would have been left there and swept into the ocean by the rising tide and waves. These are the scenes that met my eyes. 

In fact, there was so much trash that it would have taken me 4 hours to collect the trash on  just ⅓ of Ipanema Beach. It was demoralising and I just managed to collect 2 plastic bags of trash along a 5-metre stretch. See the photo below.

Just in front of Arpoador Rocks, on another 5-metre stretch, I managed to collect this grey bag of trash. There was just too much trash to collect.  So, I went up on to the rocks and collected trash there instead. 

See this video filmed by Nicolas Mandri-Perrot, when he interviewed me about my plogging.

SEE THIS PHOTO PUBLISHED IN AN ARTICLE IN GLOBO BY  

ANNA BUSTAMANTE

 — Rio de Janeiro

06/01/2025 13h43

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 ARPOADOR ROCKS IN IPANEMA - BREEDING GROUND FOR THE DENGUE MOSQUITO

In the middle of a full-blown Dengue epidemic in Brazil, people continue to leave used plastic cups, beverage cans, plastic bags and takeaway food containers in the bushes, cacti and on the rocks at Arpoador.

 A favourite spot for people to gather and watch the sunset, Arpoador is a breeding ground for Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Dengue. Rain water collecting in the plastic trash provides a perfect environment for the mosquito to leave its larvae.

Heedless of the consequences, people continue to carelessly leave their trash at Arpoador. Compare the photo taken in 2015 with that taken in  2024. What has changed? When will we ever learn?

The last photo is of the plastic trash and garbage that I collected on just a small part of Arpoador Rocks on 19/01/2025. The litter includes plastic cups, polystyrene food containers, beverage cans and biscuit wrappers. 

The large orange metal skip in the background is provided by the municipal garbage authority for litter collection but is not even half full. All people have to do is throw their trash in it to avoid creating a mosquito larvae breeding ground. The problem is laziness and ignorance. The solution is to dispose of your trash in the proper litter wheelie bins and skips.