I knew I wanted to host a beach clean up and of course I decided to shoehorn my fandoms into this event.
Like many mid-20s to 40-year-olds, Kingdom Hearts has been an huge influence on my life and has been a constant since the first time I played Kingdom Hearts was in elementary school, to now as I enter my late 20s. It’s the themes, designs, aesthetics, in addition to the symbolism, and emotional dynamics between characters that remain relevant across generations and age groups. So despite the changing of world, the act of aging, maturing, and social or political awakenings, the entire series has become something you don’t simply “grow out of.” The design may be at times too bright with a quirky cast of licensed mascots, but there’s no line of exclusion- nothing to say “this is for kids” or “you’re too old for this.”
So naturally because beaches are an icon setting for Kingdom Hearts, a Kingdom Hearts themed Beach Clean Up just made sense.
Picking a beach for this event was easy, but getting a confirmation was not. With Earth Day coming up at the time I had sent in a request form, it took an uncomfortably long time to receive an answer. What felt like 100 phone calls later, eventually 15 days before the event, I received a confirmation on the date and location of the beach clean up.
Two prizes were provided for those who picked up the most trash. And these prizes- Sora and Riku pop-figures- were awarded to two brothers who unquestionably picked up the most trash.
The highlight of the day was the Frisbee being thrown into the bonfire pit. It was either bad luck, the wind, or and impressive display of athleticism. But regardless of how it went down, it went down in the most gut-busting way and with everyone’s knees buckling in disbelief and shock, gasping in the smoke and sand, tears swelling up at the corner of everyone’s eyes. Or just mine. It was hilarious.
It was eye-opening cleaning up and learning about our impact on the earth. Playing a video game series about saving planets and people, it felt appropriately uneasy learning that each plastic water bottle discarded took about 450 years to breakdown and cigarette butts took about 3-5 years to break down.
Enjoying everyone’s company at the beach, playing board games, eating junk food, and getting sunburned felt in-line with the themes of friendship and camaraderie of Kingdom Hearts.
