On March 30, Michael Harvey (@lifebetweenthetides) stood near a beach access point at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, Canada.
The teacher captioned the video: “When you’re hoping someone shows up for your beach clean-up and then this happens.”
In the clip, he’s seen holding trash pick-up sticks and a yellow bucket as he waits for people to arrive. At one point, he makes smiles and waves at a person passing by off-camera, only for them to apologize and keep on walking.
In the end, no one showed.
“It’s cool,” Harvey wrote in the caption beneath the TikTok video, which had over 600,000 views at the time of publication. “I’m not dead inside. I like doing things alone anyways….”
But instead of calling it quits, Harvey stuck it out, documenting his slow-and-steady approach to cleaning up litter along the driftwood-dotted sands of Kitsilano.
“At least found 3 cans! Pretty successful if you ask me!” Harvey joked under his follow-up video.
As both videos raked in views, people rushed to the comments section to thank Harvey for cleaning up his local beaches.
“You showed up, and that made the difference,” one viewer wrote.
“I feel guilty for not coming, but I'm in New Zealand,” another quipped.
“Round of applause for still getting the beach cleaned up!!” A top comment read. “I hope the turnout and support gets bigger and bigger each time!!”
That last comment proved to be rather prescient. After Harvey went viral for his solo clean-up, he took to TikTok to send out another call to action.
“Alright, it’s official, we’re doing another beach cleanup this weekend, April 6th on Sunday, it’s gonna be at Jericho Beach, instead of Kits Beach — because I just did that one,” Harvey said. “Feel free to bring a friend or ride solo like me!”
Harvey added in the video’s caption that he was “a little scared” that no one would show up, but he was “excited to hopefully meet some new people and do something good for Mother Nature together.”
April 6 came, bringing pouring rain with it.
But even in the face of poor weather, over 30 people came to help, including neighbors, students, and even strangers inspired by Harvey’s story.
“In the rain, you showed up,” Harvey wrote in an update video, posted April 7. “My heart is full. Thank you. To every single person who showed up—in the rain, with muddy boots and big hearts—friends, strangers, students, family.”
“There are no words that can describe this feeling, but I will try: You are my community. You are my why. Another beach is clean, and my heart is full. This is a dream come true. This is everything. I love you all.”
And if the comment section was evidence enough, Harvey’s next beach clean-up crew could prove to be even bigger.
“What a great turnout! I'm keeping an eye out for the next Vancouver date,” one viewer wrote.
“I’m from Chilliwack but definitely will be coming to the next one,” said another.
“Thank you for hosting!” said a volunteer who had shown up to help on April 6. “We’ll be back.”
Header images via Michael Harvey / Tiktok
