ICC Beach Cleanup 2022
- UWI OneLife
- Sep 30, 2022
- 2 min read
OneLife reaches out to the ocean
The UWI One Life Club armed with 20 participating members embarked on their journey to Boardwalk Beach, St. Catherine to assist in cleaning up the beach on International Coastal CleanUp Day.
Garbage found ranged from household appliances to various plastic, metal and styrofoam bottles, caps and containers.
This is held on every 3rd Saturday of September annually and was started to raise awareness about the rising rates of pollution on numerous beaches around the world. It is important for several reasons such as developing strategies to prevent waste from entering the marine environment.
The main organizer is Ocean Conservancy while other organizations involved in the planning and execution of the ICC day include Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET), NSWMA, Recycling Partners of Jamaica, Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and Big Up Wi Beach. These organizations work synergistically so that participating clubs and organizations are able to clean the beach and dispose of the trash collected safely so that it can be recycled.
The once inviting beach with white sand was unrecognizable as garbage decorated its shores. To combat this the club members split into groups of 3: plastic collector, trash collector and data recorder. Various types of garbage were encountered on the beach. These ranged from household appliances to various plastic, metal and styrofoam bottles, caps and containers.
To make matters worse, Sargassum was present along the shoreline for an extended portion of the beach. One would have to venture further up or down the beach before being able to see the not-so-clear waters. This algae has been an invasive species in the Caribbean since 2011 and has been disrupting the delicate ecosystem. Disastrous effects such as the death of marine life and tourism for countries has been noted.
The beach is privately owned however it proves difficult to maintain due to the daily influx of garbage from the sea. Cleaning of the beach can be seen as treating the symptoms but the underlying cause (improper disposal of waste) has yet to be rectified. Until this happens beaches will always need cleaning.
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