The 1.3 million kilograms of rubbish collected from here remind the rest of the world that even the most ambitious, global agreements are only as good as the individual action and determination that bring them to life.
6 August - In the last few months of last year, three incredible things happened.
First, nearly 200 world leaders agreed to reduce poverty and pollution, and increase equality and environmental protection.
Second, those same leaders committed to tackling the climate change that threatens land, sea and coastal areas like this.
And third, a lawyer in his thirties and a retired businessman in his eighties walked down to this beach and started collecting rubbish, triggering the biggest beach clean-up in history.
Undeterred by torrential rain, soaring heat and road blocks, Afroz Shah and Harbanash Mathur were joined by people of every age, shape, size and background.
From a fisherman with partial paralysis and movie stars with the power to pull in volunteers, to 6 year old Dev inviting a cousin to sleepover and lend a hand. Sadly, Harbanash is no longer with us in person. But with 200 people quite literally picking up where he left off, his spirit will live on this beach for many years to come.
Back on that first day of the clean-up, nobody but nobody paid much attention to Afroz and Harbanash.
They should have; it was every bit as important as the global agreements making headlines. Not just because of the 1.3 million kilograms of rubbish collected from here, but because it reminds the rest of the world that even the most ambitious, global agreements are only as good as the individual action and determination that bring them to life.
Up to 13 million tonnes of plastic and crazy amounts of other rubbish end up in our oceans every year. If you look at the thousands of tobacco pouches or discarded schoolbags washed up here, it is a sad reflection of a society's lack of understanding on the implication of their actions.
We are damaging our environment, our food chain and our health in ways that we have not even begun to understand. But each one of us has the power to turn that around. We can stop it at source, in our homes and on our beaches.
That's why every single piece of rubbish you collect today will have an impact that reaches far beyond Versova. And, while I'm extremely disappointed not to be with you, I am both grateful and inspired by your incredible effort, which I will continue to follow closely.
Good luck for today!
