The Futility Of Activity

Plastic Beach

Conrad, having been raised in an affluent neighbourhood, seldom found himself face to face with the plights of the common man. Coming back to a spotlessly clean room, the lack of admiration for the efforts put in by his domestic helpers was clearly evident by his ignorance for the state in which he would often leave his room. However things were changing for Conrad, he was part of a new generation, a generation that lives in the constant anxiety and fear that the generation that preceded them and is responsible for safeguarding their future will not and is not doing enough to leave them a world that they can yearn to bloom in. With the advent of technology and the upscale in the rate of dissemination of information to the general public, issues in any remote corner of the world would quickly gain the attention of netizens demanding justice and some form of accountability.

Climate change was often at the forefront of these issues, although not one to care for the climate, Conrad quickly grew to realise the importance of preserving the world we live in after a recent spike in the number of forest fires and natural disasters that were being reported. Which were often packaged and edited with images of houses, animals and even livelihoods being burnt down often done so to convey the importance and gravity of the situation at hand by the media. Conrad quickly fell victim to his own conscience. Although some would question how much of the edited content it would take for him to respect or at least acknowledge the plight of those that did his dirty work for him in his own home.

Beach clean up drives were now the new norm, people across all age groups often coming together to do their minimal part in making their society and by extension their world a cleaner & greener place. Conrad was excited to go for his first beach clean up drive after having been informed of the same through a widely circulated message amongst his peers.

Matnak Beach was a beach not too far from where he lived, although he had heard of the beach before he had never actually bothered to visit the same despite how close it was to his location. A lack of parking space big enough to fit his car was on the forefront of the list of reasons as to why he never visited there. Yet this time around keeping aside his parking anxiety he managed to make his way to the beach for the clean up. He was greeted by warm smiles, a pair of gloves and a carry bag or two to collect any litter that he could find on the beach.

Surprised at how easy it was going to be considering all the tools required to do his bit were handed to him, Conrad quickly began collecting litter with a fervour often only seen in him in planning his next vacation. To cement his memory of the clean up drive, he took a photograph of the first piece of litter that he had found. It was a discarded plastic bottle of mineral water, He smirked at the irony of the marketing tagline found on the packaging of the bottle, “Fresh from the source”, it read.

Having done his bit, Conrad felt a sense of relief, a kind that he had never felt before. Almost as if a burden was lifted off his shoulder. Many clean up drives and environmentally conscious decisions later. Conrad found himself with a bunch of new friends who all shared this journey with him. His new group of friends were planning a trip to celebrate the bond that they had managed to develop for each other and a celebration of their latest efforts to protect the environment. 

Bali was their go-to destination that everyone had agreed upon. Upon arriving there they quickly checked into their hotel rooms and made their way straight to the nearest beach. Having only ever heard of the concept of pristine and clean beaches, the group of friends along with Conrad were mesmerised by the scenic and picturesque beauty of Bali’s white sand beaches. Carefree and without a single thought of worry in their heads, they were quick to dive into the clear blue waters the beach was blessed with. They decided to stay till sunset to catch a glimpse of the serene beauty the dusk brought with it. Floating in the water gazing at the sun, at the end of it’s arduous day, Conrad lost himself if only for a moment to his surroundings and the faint glimmer of light it was bathed in. 

Slowly but surely Conrad’s gaze focused on something floating in the water towards him. The object seemed to bobble up and down, mimicking the rhythm of the tide. It was only when the object was about an arm’s length away from him did he make out that it was a pretty beat up, discarded plastic water bottle. His environmentally aligned conscience came back into play, he grabbed the bottle out of the water and swam with it frantically towards the shore. He ran towards his backpack, bottle in hand, anxious and nervous as to what he thought he had found. Removing his phone from his bag, he quickly scrolled down to the pictures he had taken on the fateful day he decided to become an Eco-Warrior. The image he was looking for stared right back at him chilling his nerves to the core. He zoomed in on the image of the first piece of trash he had collected, coincidentally or incidentally, the bottle in his hand on the beach in Bali was the exact same bottle he had first found on Matnak beach, 3 years ago. 

His hands began to shake as he lifted the discarded bottle in his hand to reaffirm his fears. Checking the barcode of the bottle against the image on his phone, it was for the first time he realised that the digits on the barcode eerily coincided with his birthday. This revelation was enough to send his mind reeling at the implications of what had just happened. His hand trembled as it lost the firm grip he held on with and fell on the sands of this foreign beach he was on. Gazing at the horizon he began walking in a pace which only seemed to increase as he approached the crystal clear waters. Diving head first into the sea he kept swimming without hesitating to look back. Out into the abyss, into the nothingness his contributions were reduced to. 

Back home his domestic help was sweeping the floors of Conrad’s room as a daily ritual knowing all too well that all her efforts would be in vain. Yet she pursued the cause with no less fervour than Conrad had towards the world. Waiting subserviently for Conrad to come back and undo the beautiful aesthetics she had left the room in. She closed the door of the room behind her as she left, bucket of murky water and mop in tow,  little did she know that this would probably be the last time she would have to clean his room. And probably the last time he would take her for granted...