Volunteers clear more than a ton trash from Pulau Ubin beaches in pre-dawn clean-up

Audrey Tan Straits Times 7 Sep 13;

More than a ton of trash was cleared from the beaches of Pulau Ubin by 72 volunteers during a coastal clean-up operation organised by Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) Alumni on Saturday.

A total of 76 bags of trash weighing 1,237 kg were amassed by four teachers and 68 youths aged between 15 and 26 before sunrise on Saturday morning. Participants brought their own recycled plastic bags for trash collection and were taught how to categorise and record the trash collected. In total, 1,394 plastic bags, 662 food wrappers and 428 plastic bottles were picked up.

This data will be submitted to the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) to provide insight to the strategies needed to tackle global marine trash problems.

Conducted ahead of International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept 21, this initiative aims to educate youths on the impact of marine trash on wildlife and spur them to become environmental ambassadors. "I just hope more people are made aware of this and not simply discard their rubbish selfishly," said volunteer Priscilla Goh, 15, who is from Tanjong Katong Girls' School. "I actually picked up a few dead sea crabs, and it was really heartbreaking."