令和４年３月19日（土）に、本学より18名が瀬戸内オーシャンズXの「海ごみゼロチャレンジ in 瀬戸内漁港」と題したキックオフイベントに参加しました。（内訳は留学生９名、日本人学生７名、原インターナショナルオフィス長とロン教授）

瀬戸内オーシャンズＸとは瀬戸内海に面した４県（岡山、広島、香川、愛媛）と日本財団とが海洋プラスチック問題の解決に向けて共同で実施しているプロジェクトです。 

香川大学の他、地元（亀阜コミュニティ協議会、二番丁コミュニティ協議会、日新コミュニティ協議会）の方々や高松中央卸売市場、瀬戸内漁協、高松市役所、香川県庁、海ごみリーダーなど約120名の方々と一緒に高松漁港周辺で調査を兼ねたごみ拾いを行いました。

具体的には、参加者を７グループに分けて、各グループには海ごみリーダーが付いて清掃活動を行い、ICC（国際海岸クリーンアップ）手法を利用して、ごみの品目を別々に分けて、記録をとりました。

ペットボトル、タバコフィルター、食品の包装、食品容器、生活雑貨、ロープひもなどが多く見られ、ごみの回収量は152袋（30Lごみ袋）、245kgになりました。

参加した学生からは「一人であまりできないが、皆さんと一緒にするとごみをたくさん拾えて、達成感があった」、「タバコの吸い殻の多さには驚いた」などのコメントがありました。

On 19 March 2022 (Sat), a group of 16 students participated in the Setouchi Oceans X Kick-off environmental cleaning event. Nine were international students while seven were Japanese students. The group was led by Prof. Hara (Director of International Office) and Prof. Lrong.

'Setouchi Oceans X' is a five-year project funded by Nippon Foundation, and is undertaken by four prefectures (Kagawa, Ehime, Hiroshima, and Okayama) aiming to achieve 'zero marine waste' in the Seto Inland Sea.

The location of the kick-off event was the Takamatsu Fishing Port and the wholesale fish market area.

Besides the eighteen of us from Kagawa University, members of three local resident associations, Takamatsu Central Wholesale market, Setouchi Fisheries Association, City Hall personnel, Prefectural Office personnel, and 'Marine garbage leaders' participated, making a total of about 120 people.

All participants were divided into seven groups, each headed by a Marine garbage leader.

Garbage collected was recorded based on procedures developed by International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). Garbage was separated into different types and counted. Pet bottles, cigarette butts, food wrappers, food containers, miscellaneous daily items, and ropes were among the prominent items collected. In total, 152 bags (30 liters each) weighing 245 kilograms were recorded.

Students were surprised at the amount of garbage collected in merely 90 minutes of activity. Some of the student comments included the following.
‘I realized that community participation was important as an awareness medium to take care of one’s rubbish’.
‘Looking at my individual performance, I didn’t think I made a significant difference for the environment, but when I saw all the collected garbage accumulated at the end, it was just inspiring’.