How Small Effort Matters

“Don't use social media to impress people; use it to impact people.” This is how the American screenwriter Dave Willis said. Hong Kong hiker Raymond Cheng utilised the viral impact of threads and aimed at organising at least a hundred times of mountain cleanup campaigns. From striking a healthy lifestyle to environmental protection, let’s have a glimpse of the reason behind.

Every Monday to Wednesday, Raymond concluded the previous campaign in his account, before recruiting volunteers for the upcoming one every Sunday. This April, I have participated in his cleanup campaign twice. Peng Chau and Kowloon Peak respectively. Each time, there were more than 10 participants. Within 6+ hours of cleanup, more than 10 bags of rubbish were collected.

Cigarette butts. Used condoms. Broken wheelchairs. These categories of rubbish could be out of your imagination. On one hand, we picked up some soft drink bottles from the 70s, which might be older than the 90s participants. On the other hand, we discover a baby doll head buried on the ground. It reminds Raymond that he happened to pick up a banknote, gun and even drugs before.

An aluminium beverage could be the habitat of various insects. Clean up the dirt and soil inside before putting it in the trash bag. When we found a yoga mat in the drain and a broken lamp in the grass, we had to throw it in the bins since it was too heavy to carry it all the way. When it comes to construction waste, we have to contact 1823 and ask for help from the departments.

The more you participate, the more skill you accumulate. But why on earth would Raymond launch such a campaign? At the age of 25, the 256-pound weight results in high blood pressure, high sterol levels and fatty liver disease. In order not to rely on the medication, for the rest of his life, he was determined to do exercise everyday and eventually lost 60 pounds in just half a year.

Regular exercise was the antidote for his slipped disc in 2016, since the surgery might be risky. Ecotourism has experienced a significant transformation due to the pandemic, shifting from a niche market to a preferred travel choice, yet resulting in significant pollution. A viral video of him walking 30km from Mong Kok to Tuen Mun inspired him to protect nature via threads.

A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind. Raymond always encourages the participants to collect the rubbish utterly from the bushes to the slopes. They even cleaned up a giant rock in Po Toi Island which was used as a loo for other hikers. His selflessness and persistence touches me the most. A hundred times is not the ultimate goal, if the volunteers are willing to join, he shared.