10/01/07

By DOLPHIN ENCOUNTERS, For The Guardian

Hundreds of volunteers turned out in record numbers to participate in an international clean-up event in The Bahamas that to date has helped remove over 100 million pounds of marine litter from over 170,000 miles of beaches since it began 22 years ago. In New Providence, over 570 volunteers scoured Yamacraw Beach, removing four tons of garbage from the popular shoreline.

The International Coastal Clean-Up Day initiative, which is the world's largest one-day volunteer event, was created to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine environment. This year, volunteers in New Providence, Abaco, Andros, Grand Bahama, Inagua and San Salvador turned out to clean-up their respective beaches. The event, which began as a local program in Texas, has gradually expanded to include every major body of water in the world in over 92 countries, including The Bahamas.

"We couldn't have asked for a better crowd. The level of participation in this year's event was incredible. It's always great to see Bahamians working together and taking responsibility for their country," said Tanya Moss, education assistant at Dolphin Encounters and National Coordinator of International Coastal Clean-Up Day in The Bahamas.

"Everyone came ready to clean up not just in New Providence but in the Family Islands as well. In Nassau, people were out at the crack of dawn ready to work and as the reports have come in from participating islands it is clear that many volunteers of all ages, from all walks of life came out to clear many beaches and waterways in our country. I think most Bahamians are fed-up with the levels of trash in this country, especially on our beautiful beaches and the response to this clean-up proves that." For nearly seven hours volunteers combed miles of beach on each island. In Nassau volunteers filled a total of 610 bags of trash on Yamacraw Beach and collected 16,436 garbage items weighing four tons collectively. The top 10 debris items collected from the beach clean-up included picnic items (cups, plates, knives, spoons), beverage cans, food wrappers and containers, plastic and glass beverage bottles, caps, lids, paper and plastic bags, cigarettes, clothing and building materials.

In New Providence, hundreds of students from the Governor General's Youth Award (GGYA), Mt. Carmel Academy, C.V. Bethel, College of the Bahamas, Queen's College, C.R. Walker, St. Augustine's College, St. Andrew's, Aquinas College, Lyford Cay International School, Xavier's Lower School, St. Anne's and Kingsway Academy participated in the clean-up.

Volunteers also came from S.T.R.A.W. the Center Youth Leadership Academy (For Young Women), the Indaba Project of the Grants Town Community Project, Dolphin Encounters, members of the Rotary Nassau Sunrise Club, BREEF, the Bahamas National Trust, Caribbean Bottling Company Bahamas, Proud Paws, many other local volunteers, the U.S. Embassy and Miss Teen Bahamas World and Miss Teen Bahamas Intercontinental.

The Beach Buddies program, a year-round marine conservation field trip offered by Dolphin Encounters-Project B.E.A.C.H, was originally inspired by the ICC and designed with the guidelines from the Ocean Conservancy. After hours of cleaning up the beach, volunteers sorted their refuse by type and wrote down their findings on detailed data cards. These data cards will be submitted to the Ocean Conservancy in November to help them continue to track common types of litter and try to prevent these items from ending up on beaches in the future.

This year's sponsors for the New Providence event included: Caribbean Bottling Company, the Department of Environmental Health, Bahamas Waste Ltd., Valentino Bain, The Nature Conservancy, Bahamas National Trust, T& K Trash Removal, Super Value, Milano Bistro, Subway, Chelsea's Choice, Aquapure, Leisure Travel & Tours, Kelly's Home Centre, Bahamas Experience, Bahamas Fast Ferries, Celebrations Party Supplies, Dolphin Encounters, and Holiday Ice. "Unfortunately, there was a very large amount of trash that was dumped and left here," said Walter Wells, CEO of the Caribbean Bottling Company Bahamas which manufactures Coca Cola and helped sponsor the event. Coke is the worldwide sponsor for International Coast Cleanup. "This event drives home the important message of keeping our environment clean. We think of our own yards and homes as our environment and that we are not responsible for anything beyond and that is simply not the case. We all need to pitch in to keep our island and our country clean."

"The students of the GGYA truly embrace this clean up both in Nassau and the Family Islands," said George Thompson, Unit Leader of the Governor General's Youth Award Programme. "Part of their responsibility of being a member of the GGYA is to keep the environment clean and to respect our country code which includes leaving an area cleaner than you meet it. By cleaning the beach and learning about the destruction waste causes to our natural resources, they learn the importance of keeping our environment clean."

Many volunteers were upset by what was found strewn about the beach and surrounding area.

"I was a part of the clean-up last year and thought I knew what a dirty beach looked like, but this beach was just unbelievably full of trash — truly disgusting," said Shameka Dorsett, a student of the College of the Bahamas and a member of the G.G.Y.A. "We found everything out here, from mattresses, tires, computers, clothes, old refrigerators and on and on. We really made a difference though and I cannot believe we cleaned it so well. Now everyone has to leave it this way!"

International Coastal Cleanup Day was also a success in Andros. Volunteers included GGYA students from Central Andros and North Andros High Schools, Green Force, primary school students, school staff, and other volunteers who cleaned Staniard Creek Settlement Beach. Sponsors ANCAT, Small Hope Bay Lodge, Mabel's Meat Mary and Caribbean Bottling Company provided refreshments.

"We had a good clean-up and are happy to report that we discovered less trash on the same beach compared to last year," said Ricardo Johnson, GGYA coordinator from Central Andros High School and one of the ICC Coordinators for Andros. "We did more than just clean the beach, however, as we took a scientific approach and the students were involved in a graded science project. We noted what was found, everything was weighed piece by piece and the students had to apply a scientific method.

This way, they learned both about the importance of protecting our environment as well as how to apply a scientific approach to solving this problem."

In Abaco, students of the GGYA, the community, The Pilot Club, The Ministry of Tourism and a member of the Keep America Beautiful Campaign participated in both a beach and dive clean-up effort. Abaco Markets sponsored refreshments. "It was wonderful to see people in our community coming out to clean and protect our environment," said Bernadette Hall, of the Ministry of Tourism in Abaco. "Among the many items found was a toilet. We plan to use this toilet in our future efforts so people will stop putting our environment "in the toilet" so to speak."

"The International Coastal Cleanup engages people to remove trash and debris from the world's beaches and waterways, to identify the sources of debris, and to change the behaviours that cause pollution," added Sophia Smith of Dolphin Encounters' Project BEACH. "The event isn't just about pollution clean-up it's about pollution prevention. The event focuses on educating and empowering people to become a part of the marine debris solution. We thank each and every volunteer and sponsor that participated. As a coastal community keeping our ocean and waterways clean is vital to our environment and way of life. Together we can preserve our coasts."

To learn more about International Coastal Cleanup Day visit www.oceanconservancy.org.