Milestones flying in thick and fast!
The Operation Clean Spot (OCS) map received a record number of clean-up submissions in September, which pushed us over quite a few milestones!
In last month’s newsletter, we included a poll asking for your predictions on when we will reach five tonnes. Impressively, in September, we not only hit the five-tonne milestone, but we also flew right past it to reach over six and a half tonnes!
International Coastal Clean-up Day
On 18 September, people worldwide celebrated International Coastal Clean-Up Day and World Clean-up Day – annual events that aim to raise awareness about the importance and value of a clean, healthy environment!
In Nelson Mandela Bay, six clean-ups were added to the OCS map, with efforts spread across some of the city’s most iconic beaches. It was a beautifully sunny morning in the Bay, and despite the clean-up time competing with the rugby, we had a great turnout. Thank you to every person who joined a clean-up or did a clean-up of your own!
In partnership with Pick ‘n Pay’s People ‘n Planet, OCS hosted an ICC clean-up at Pollock Beach. The clean-up, which was open to the public, welcomed 55 people and saw 23 bags of litter weighing over 61 kg collected on the day. Members of the public who joined the Pollock Beach Clean-up entered a lucky draw hosted on Facebook to win spot prizes as part of the event. OCS would like to congratulate all our lucky winners!
Have a look below to see details of some of the other ICC clean-ups that took place in Nelson Mandela Bay:
Are you interested in joining a public clean-up event? Be sure to keep an eye out for OCS news, updates, and more via our regular newsletters, webpage, and social media platforms.
If you or your organisation would like to host a clean-up, don’t hesitate to contact the OCS team to include your clean-up in the November newsletter or to have OCS join your clean-up.
Please remember to submit your clean-ups using the form on the OCS website. We love adding your clean-up efforts to the map, watching as your spot turns green and you reach new achievements, and seeing the total number of clean-ups rise!
Hot off the press
Excitingly, Operation Clean Spot is reaching more people! In the past month, OCS has featured on The Good Things Guy and in the local newspaper, PE Express! Please feel free to share these stories on your social media platforms. Pass them along to your friends, family, work colleagues, and anyone else who may be interested so that they might be motivated to join the worthy cause and so that we can welcome them all to the OCS family!
The scientific journal Marine Litter Pollution recently published some incredible work that SST is doing on marine litter monitoring. So, if you’re interested in learning more about litter found along our picturesque beaches, be sure to check out and share the paper here!
You, too, can help SST better understand the litter in our city through your clean-ups! If you are interested in collecting data on what waste you have picked up, collection datasheets are available on the OCS website. Alternatively, click on the links below to download the datasheet of your choice. There are four levels to choose from, with level 1 being the most basic data and level 4 being the most detailed.
Collection Datasheets
- OCS Datasheet Level 1
- OCS Datasheet Level 2
- OCS Datasheet Level 3
- OCS Datasheet Level 4 Guide
- OCS Datasheet Level 4
Download a version and record your data at your next clean-up and become a citizen scientist!
Beyond Nelson Mandela Bay
Although much of OCS’s focus is on Nelson Mandela Bay for proof of concept, it is always exciting adding spot adoptions or clean-ups from other parts of South Africa and Africa! We have welcomed clean-up submissions from Cape Town, on the West coast of South Africa, through to Kei Mouth, on the East coast. If you or someone you know outside of Nelson Mandela Bay would like to join Operation Clean Spot, please do, and we will happily add your spot to the map!
September 2021 Recap
14 clean-ups held
- NEW MILESTONE: 553 bags of litter
- NEW MILESTONE: 2,395 kg of litter
- NEW MILESTONE: 410 people got involved
- NEW MILESTONE: 26 hours 30 minutes spent cleaning
