On 19 September 2020, volunteers all over the world celebrated International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) day. Initiated by Ocean Conservancy more than 30 years ago, ICC is an annual day dedicated to cleaning up the waste on the beaches worldwide, and recording each item collected on a data sheet in order to identify trends and sources of marine waste.
In celebration of this year’s ICC and moving Towards Zero Plastics to the Seas of Africa, Sustainable Seas Trust was involved in the collaboration of 14 beach clean-ups around Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB). SST also partnered with Pick n Pay to host a clean-up at Pollok beach.
“The event brings attention to the growing amount of waste that is present in the environment, and the role we as individuals can play in preventing that waste from reaching the seas,” says SST Events Coordinator Lauren Jonas. “More so, the ICC event is a wonderful way to bring communities together, educate and encourage the spirit of Ubuntu amongst ourselves.”
Despite the gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a joyful, sunny day that saw volunteers coming out to support and care for the beauty and health of our Algoa Bay coastline.
A staggering total of 652 bags were collected throughout the different clean-ups in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“We need everyone to play their part in keeping our oceans clean. If we can stop waste at source, we can reduce the total amount of waste going to the sea,” says Lauren.
Thank you to these organisations for hosting the various clean-ups around NMB:
Zwartkops Conservancy, NMBM Ward 2 Office, ProDive, Pick n pay, WESSA, SANCCOB, Sardinia Bay Horse Riders Association, Fishy Tales, Four Wheel Drive Eco Club, Blue Horizon Bay Conservancy, Kabega Primary School, Groen spore and Grey High School.
A big thank to Plastics SA for the provision of bags, “litter pickers” and re-usable gloves, as well as all the volunteers who took time out of their mornings to care for our beautiful coastline and support International Coastal Cleanup.
Read about our ICC 2019 event here and watch our ICC 2020 video below:
