Meeting the volunteers for the Tanah Merah Year-Round coastal cleanups

In mid-November Jocelyne Sze (ICCS Manpower) and myself met up with Mary-Ann Khoo, the NVPC officer with sparkling eyes and brimming idealism. As we debriefed September’s ICCS, we decided to tackle the idea of a year-round cleanup at Tanah Merah – with fresh blood.

The next day, this advertisement above was posted on this blog and carried by various personal Facebook pages and blogs including the very important portal by Ria Tan, WildSingapore. We called for hopeful hearts to join the effort to protect the marine environment.

Yesterday I realised with some alarm that all of December had gone by. I had not fussed over the people who signed up but sent them a single reminder of the meeting. Surely, I felt, some would have forgotten about all this by now. However, eleven came and one sent apologies.

Sivasothi explaining rational and operational procedure.
Photo by Andy Dinesh

The ICCS team who went down to meet people who want to make a difference this evening were Andy Dinesh (ICCS Recce Captain), Xu Weiting (ICCS Tanah Merah Zone Captain), Cai Hongxia (ICCS Tanah Merah Zone Captain), Jocelyn Sze (ICCS Manpower), Mary-Ann Khoo (NVPC), Ng Kai Scene (ICCS North-East Zone Captain) and myself, N. Sivasothi (ICCS Coordinator). It was very encouraging for us to meet all eleven of them!

1. Seow Ziqiang
2. Au Yeong Kin Choong – absent with apologies, but ready for action
3. Gladys Chua
4. Lam Chee On
5. Benjamin Tan
6. Ching Yu Hang
7. Wu Xinping Jennifer
8. Anore Alfredo Nofuente
9. Florence Loh
10. Zhu Wen Wen
11. Roy Eric Rivera
12. Ong Sze Sze

How did they find us? Through SG Cares, WildSingapore, a friend, facebook etc!

The whys and hows was tackled during the one hour briefing, it was time to agree on our first trial cleanup! We all agreed it had to be after Chinese New Year for sure. A check of the tide-table on Mobilegeographics revealed that the tides on Sat 11 Feb 2012 were 0.91 m (7:11 AM SGT) and 3.50 m (1:54 PM SGT). That meant a workable shore around 8am – 10am.

However, Dinesh will examine the shoreline in early February and report back. Current movements and the monsoon might actually redistribute the Tanah Merah trash elsewhere during this period. If the shore is clear, we’ll move to Pasir Ris Site 6 instead.

With the date set, the volunteers will be assembled into three teams to organise their first cleanup and perhaps invite friends along. They can tap the ICCS store at NUS for trash bags, weighing scales and gloves. The exercise will help everyone understand an Organiser’s role – for in future they will be coordinating with and advising Organisers in running year-round cleanups at that site.

So we will next meet on 11th February 2012: 8am at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal; we are looking forward to observing the team in action and working with them!

Meeting about the Tanah Merah Year-Round Coastal Cleanups

The ICCS team will meet volunteers who signed up to initiate the Tanah Merah Year-Round Coastal Cleanups at NVPC tomorrow!

We will meet at 7.00pm at the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre @ Central
Address: 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #04-88, The Central, Singapore 059817 (map)

Last September, a massive cleanup exercise was initiated to tackle the trash at the Tanah Merah shoreline. It was soon realised that the shoreline requires help year-round. There are organisations and individuals interested in helping as I receive emails all year-round; however, they require guidance and support. With the ICCS coordinators team overworked, what was the solution?

Ask for help , of course! So last November, I issued a call for dependable leaders and supporters to help at Tanah Merah.

And 15 volunteers responded with some cleanup veterans amongst them. At the Wednesday 4th January 2011 planning session, they will meet:

1. Andy Dinesh (ICCS Recce Captain)
2. Xu Weiting (ICCS Tanah Merah Zone Captain)
3. Cai Hongxia (ICCS Tanah Merah Zone Captain)
4. Jocelyn Sze (ICCS Manpower)
5. Mary-Ann Khoo (NVPC)
6. N. Sivasothi (ICCS Coordinator)

In ICCS, we work within our limits. We keep plans simple and manageable so that we persist for the long-term and improve our methods and outreach over time. With the Tanah Merah project, we hope to setup a few teams so that each team only needs to lead ONE cleanup session a year and support the other cleanups where possible. Manpower will be recruited from organisations and individuals interested in helping out.

I am looking forward to meeting all of them!

Cheerio!

Sivasothi
–

N. Sivasothi
Coordinator, International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
e: iccs@rafflesmuseum.net
w: http://coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg/

b: http://coastalcleanup.wordpress.com/
f: http://fb.com/iccsg/
t: https://twitter.com/coastalcleanup/

Connecting urbanised youth with their natural heritage – Woodlands Ring Secondary School students reflect on the Sungei Loyang mangrove cleanup

03 Sep 2011 – As schools in Singapore close for the September break, about 50 students from Woodlands Ring Secondary School spent a meaningful Saturday morning at Sungei Loyang for the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS).

Each year, the Secondary Three Biology students kickstart their September holidays by doing their part for Mother Nature. This is the 11th year Woodlands Ring Secondary School has participated in the ICCS, led by Mr Jack Chong, HOD for Character and Citizenship Education, and assisted by former students who volunteer year after year to guide their juniors.

Most of the students were coming face to face with a mangrove habitat and its biodiversity for the first time – hence the event provides a platform to connect our urbanised younger generation back to nature.

Here are excerpts of some of the students’ reflections:

“I feel that ICCS is a meaningful programme as it enables us to know more about our environment, as we are living in a developed area. In this way, we can have a more holistic education and we can learn about taking care of what Mother Nature has entrusted to us. Initially, I did not like the idea of ICCS. After going through the process, I have learnt to enjoy the activity and learn about the importance of our environment.” – Camilia Koh Ching Wen

“I felt that the whole programme was relatively tiring, but it was worthwhile. I also came close to a real swamp life as I saw the habitat of mud lobsters and many seagrasses. Overall, the trip was an eye-opener and was meaningful.” – Azizul Hakim Bin Mohamad Said

“Before the cleanup, I felt very sad to see rubbish cluttered all over the mangrove and the strong stench from the litter made me even more depressed. I knew that I had to play my part as a concerned citizen to clean the mangrove and to preserve the wildlife. However, I had a great sense of satisfaction when I saw all the rubbish being cleared up and seeing the mangrove so clean once again. As a Biology student, I can help to raise awareness of the public and organise more projects to clean these areas more often.” – Matthew A/L Kumar

“When I heard that we will be going for the cleanup, I was pretty bummed about the trip as I knew it was going to be hot and tiring. However, on the actual cleanup, due to my stomach upset, I was unable to help with the picking up of trash and was instead assigned to help weighing and loading the trash. It gave me time to chat with some of the assistants which made me realise such cleanups are important as the amount of trash has been increasing each year. Thus my initial view changed and I now feel that such cleanups are very meaningful.” – Ong Qian Wei

“I felt that the cleanup of the mangrove is a once in a lifetime experience and this trip also made me realise the importance of decreasing the amount of pollution, as this will greatly affect the animals’ natural habitats and it will spoil the natural beauty of the environment. I am glad that ICCS provided my schoolmates and I a chance to experience and learn more about our natural environment. After the cleanup, I felt that I contributed in my own way and I am proud of myself. I hope that there will be more of such learning journeys” – Cheong Wee Kee

– Chua Yi Teng, Biology teacher, Woodlands Ring Secondary School.

2011 Results from Sungei Loyang mangrove cleanup
by Woodlands Ring and Naval Base Secondary Schools

The ICCS Year-Round Cleanups at Tanah Merah East

Where are the Tanah Merah beaches?

Tanah Merah is the newest zone in the ICCS programme as it was added to Singapore’s shoreline relatively recently. This stretch is host to a bunch of Singapore’s non-recreational beaches which are not cleared of marine debris regularly, as they are not setup for public use as yet. As such, it is a good place to get an education about the load of marine debris which washes up on Singapore’s shores.

ICCS Google Map of Tanah Merah's beaches, 1-10 sites

There is life on the shore!

WildSingapore’s Tanah Merah marine life poster

In the eastern end of these beaches lie the most recently reclaimed beaches of Tanah Merah East, TM6-TM10. Though recent, marine life returning to the shore is subject to numerous stresses including a very high load of plastics and other debris as well as tar balls which persist and wash up from oil spills long forgotten.

These areas have been well recce’d by ICCS Recce Captain Andy Dinesh over the years, who also assists ICCS Zone Captains Xu Weiting and Cai Hongxia oversee the cleanup in September.

Trash from the Beach
114,709 trash items were removed from 4.6km of Tanah Merah’s beaches (1-10) last September. The top three trash items collected were:

• Styrofoam pieces – 8,1465
• Beverage bottles (plastic) 2 liters or less – 14,676
• Bags (plastic) – 1,775

The ICCS Year-Round Cleanups at Tanah Merah East

In response to interest expressed by groups who tackled Tanah Merah East beaches (TM6-TM10) during the last international coastal cleanup in September, ICCS intends to initiate a programme of year-round cleanups at Tanah Merah East in order to grapple with the magnitude of trash on that shore.

These cleanups, separate from our data-driven September cleanup, will be either managed directly or in support of an Organiser of a corporate group or institution interested in contributing to this effort.

To initiate this programme, we are recruiting motivated individuals from amongst ICCS Organisers and Site Buddies, National Volunteer and Philantrophy Centre’s ICCS Site Buddies and Green Champions as well as ICCS alumni and members of the public.

From this pool, we hope to have enough volunteer Site Buddies who can manage cleanups at Tanah Merah at least four times a year. Once this mechanism is set up, the ICCS Year-Round Cleanups at Tanah Merah East will be integrated into the National Volunteer Oil Spill Action Plan which we are developing, in order to prepare volunteers to better respond in a crisis on our shores.

To kick off the programme, we are meeting interested individuals in January 2012:

Recruitment Briefing Wed 04 Jan 2012: 7.00pm Conducted by N. Sivasothi (Coordinator, ICCS) National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre @ Central [map] If you are keen to participate and can commit to managing at least four cleanups a year, sign up at: http://tinyurl.com/iccs-tanahmeraheast

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Tanah Merah East (Beaches 6-10): data and photos from ICCS2011

On 17 September 2011, a total of 411 volunteers from nine organisations collected, categorised and counted 25,980 items weighing 3,607 kg along 1,300 metres of shoreline. This was disposed of in a total of 752 trash bags and carted away by NEA contractors, destined for incineration and disposal.

Below are some photos to give you an impression of the site.

Tanah Merah 6 – link Weatherford Asia Pacific Pte Ltd – link Ministry of Education – link Tanah Merah 7 – link SUVEC – link National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre – link ITE College East – link Independents – link

Tanah Merah 8 & 9 (18 Sep 2011) Australia & New Zealand Association Action, AECOM & National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre – link Tanah Merah 10 (18 Sep 2011) Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources – link

Photos from Tanah Merah

Trash-filled shores!

More trash, covered in oil!

Coastal cleanup may be back-breaking work, but it is satisfying!

Trash bags from Tanah Merah 8 & 9

More photos from ICCS 2011 be found here:

• Tanah Merah 6: Weatherford I
• Tanah Merah 6: Weatherford II
• Tanah Merah 7: Independents
• Tanah Merah: ANZA, NVPC, AECOM I
• Tanah Merah: ANZA, NVPC, AECOM II 

Tanmaya Kabra, SEVEN years in ICC Singapore and on to the US next!

I have met many Singapore American School students over the years and have always appreciated their participation in the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore as they are hard workers on our shores. After two decades, that’s something like 3,000 American students who have pitched in for the marine environment here. They would have gone on to make a difference in the environment wherever they are in varying degrees as they moved on to colleges in the US and then on to careers and life.

Both the Middle and High Schools of the Singapore American School participate so there are some students who have had a long record of participation. Thus it was with great pleasure that I met a student veteran of SEVEN years!

Tanmaya Kabra accompanied veteran-teacher Martha Began to received the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium Award for the SAS High School’s for 20 years of dedicated service under the enthusiastic supervision of Martha, Steve Early and others. The Middle School which has been led by ICCS founder Kate Thome too received the Symposium Award, which is an acknowledgement by the community to exemplary effort.

This is Tanmaya’s last year in ICCS as he heads off to college but he has told me he will be seeking out the ICC there in the US where it originated. There are programmes in all the states, although getting to a cleanup site could involve a bit more traveling to get there!

Tanmaya has been blogging at Green Notings and made posts about the SAS’ 20th year at ICCS and the receiving the Symposium Award.

Besides being a pioneer in the ICCS, SAS has provided an opportunity for continuity for participation in the programme as highlighted by Tanmaya.

This sort of involvement of experienced students in ICCS to help mentor and supervise others is something we have always encouraged as involving students in planning and execution better prepares them for independent environmental protection effort. And it provides support for overburdened teachers!

In the years ahead, I think we should look into surveying how widely this has been done and actively encourage this.

Well done Tanmaya, and I’ll look forward to your report from the US next year!

A Great Effort at Sungei Seletar Clean-up

Volunteers from Land Transport Authority, Pei Hwa Secondary School and individual signup participants arrived early at 8am at Sungei Seletar for International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 2011 on Saturday 17th September 2011.

Sungei Seletar is one of the most difficult places at which to conduct a cleanup. Firstly, there is no public bus service. Then there is the lack of shelters in case of heavy rain. Zero toilet unless you consider the tall bushes and shrubs fair game. The difficult terrain of rocky beaches threaten to sprain the ankles and ankle-deep mud near the mangroves and the tides cut off the returning path on the beach. Lastly the Trash Collection Point is far, far away.

Despite these challenging factors, enthusiastic volunteers cleaned up about 650kg of trash with the plastic (bags & beverage bottles)  comprising the bulk of trash out of this not-so-noticed spot of coast.

It was a great effort and much thanks to all volunteers who turned up to battle marine pollution that day.

ICC Malaysia @ Terengganu – congratulations!

Click for article[pdf]

ICC Malaysia @ Terengganu – congratulations to them!

“Rubbish collected from the 2-hour clean up weighed a total of 395.6kg. Data collected showed that the top three culprits of marine debris were cigarettes and cigarette filters (11.7%), plastic bags (9.2%), and plastic beverage bottles (8.5%).

Rampai Niaga Sdn. Bhd general manager Jesse Siew said, “After years of organising the ICC in Malaysia, I am always distressed by the growing amount of trash we collect but heartened by the increasing number of volunteers and the changes we are able to bring about in ourselves to be better stewards of our environment,” she shares.

“This year, I want to highlight the harm that plastic causes to marine wildlife. We have just released three juvenile hawksbill turtles to the ocean and I pray everyday that they don’t choke to death on a plastic bag,” added Siew.”

See this article from earlier this year “Plastics Killing Terengganu’s Turtles” – Bernama, 24 Jul 2011.

Thanks to Ria Tan, WildSingapore for the alert!

ICCS Changi 2011: A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

“Can you help me print 3 copies of the data card before you come down!” – I hollered over the phone to my primary school friend I had shanghai-ed as an ICCS Site Buddy, Dennis Chew.

Yes, I confess – yours truly, the Changi Zone Captain, had brought the gloves, trash bags, weighing scales and pens for the Independent Volunteers but forgot about the all-important Data Card!

So even as my dear friend Dennis was about to head out to pick me up, I was asking him to return home to print Data Cards!

After a mad rush of 30 minutes, we arrived on time at Changi Carpark 6 to start ICCS. Phew!! We did pay a price – we had to abandon our hot and eagerly anticipated Changi Village breakfast!

Some of the Independents were already waiting for us – a group PSB Academy students from Korea, China and Singapore. Too late to sign up as an independent group, we had invited them to sign up as Independents @ Changi instead.

Hardworking independents

Their site was not an easy one – I had allocated them Changi Site 3 which has a higher trash load than Sites 1 or 2 and is less accessible – the nearest bus stop is a 10-minute walk away. But here they were, bright and chirpy.

I set my trusty site buddy Dennis to work with the Independents and headed out to drop in on various groups.

My first stop was Compassvale Secondary led by Mrs Winnie Lim where I kicked-off their cleanup with a briefing. Some students were bleary-eyed but I piqued their attention by asking “Why are you here to clean the beach? This is a recreational beach cleaned by contract workers who do a much better job on a daily basis!”

Yup, that’s right. At recreational beaches like this one, the main objective of ICCS is the data collection aspect which helps all of us understand the trash profile on the shore. With the objective realised, I felt confident as I left them to the trash and data collection.

After dropping in to meet the hardworking Girl Guides Singapore (South Division c/o Queensway Girl Guides) and Baxter Bioscience, I then called up my chauffeur to drive me to Changi Sites 1 and 2.

That’s right – my chauffeur! Who was none other than my dear site buddy and good friend, Dennis Chew. So for the rest of the morning, he drove me around and accompanied me as if we were on a campaign trail – visiting groups, talking to Organisers and participants and finally collecting their votes.. erm.. I meant consolidated Data Cards.

I did not manage to visit some groups but they were doing great – such as Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore) Pte Ltd led by Linda Lim. She texted me when she arrived and submitted the data all typed in excel that afternoon; great job!

It was cool to see Black & Veatch (SEA) Pte Ltd led by Chen Feng who were all togged out in an event T-shirt. Catrin Huxtable was leading the Australian International School Singapore, and they were thorough, picking up small lumps of crude oil probably left over from the oil spill last May.

Our final stop on the campaign trail was to debrief one corporate group. With one of their top trash items being plastic containers, I compared the disposable plastic water bottle Organisers had provided to volunteers and the reusable Camelbak water bottle one of the company staff was drinking from.

Yup, it is that simple. With ICCS data pointing to the prevalence of single-use plastics reaching our beaches, we emphasise many ways to combat this – responsible disposal of trash, less use of resources or the use of biodegradeable material. But the most effective method is to avoid the use of plastic disposables in the first place!

Easily available now are reusable water bottles, carrier bags, tupperwares and the like. With reducing disposables being the most effective strategy, it is no wonder that “Reduce” leads the way in the 3Rs.

If you wonder if washing a reusable bottles will use more resources such as water and detergent as compared to disposables, check out this ecological intelligence article by the author of Emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman in New York Times.

“Reusing” is a concept not only for daily necessities but for friends as well. Hmm, I wonder if I can I use my friend Dennis again at next year’s ICCS!

See you at the beach, everyone!

Why I resist peeking into the gift horse’s mouth (Reflections from the NE Zone)

My 3^rd year in the Northeast Zone sailed by peacefully. Thankfully, for the three of us in-charge (Lim Chen Kee, Cheong Wei Siong and yours truly Ng Kai Scene), it has been a “stable” year. We got back our veteran groups and the only changes were the re-opening of Sungei Tampines and the temporary closure of Sembawang Beach, due to renovation works.

Yes, life has been good! So good that one of the deputy zone captains wondered whether we should challenge ourselves with a more difficult zone next year?!

Northeast - Some sites at a glance

Me? I am just grateful for the stability. So what if this year I did not get to “start-up” new sites? (We started Pasir Ris Site 6 and Sungei Seletar respectively in the last two years.) To continue bringing participants to cleanup these new sites is good enough to me. In fact, we brought many more people (240 in total) to Pasir Ris Site 6 this year vs. 64 in 2010!

I am particularly keen on cleaning up at places such as Pasir Ris Site 6 and Sungei Seletar, because they are easily forgotten pockets of coastline in Singapore where trash accumulates. Another easily forgotten spot, albeit a way smaller one is the Sungei Tampines mangrove. So, I would count the re-opening and cleaning up of Sungei Tampines mangrove as something worth celebrating this year. Sungei Tampines is located right in the middle of Pasir Ris Park. However, its east and west banks are hidden by trees and bushes. Other than the odd fisherman or two, regular park users rarely bother to come here.

Sungei Tampines Mangrove - Volunteers at Work

Our enthusiastic group of 20 volunteers from Miss Earth Singapore, Environment Resource Management and other Independents did a great job clearing 282kg of trash from the site.  It was also gratifying to read that our new volunteer, Deanna, had a good cleanup experience there.

Fewer changes in the zone also meant more time to think of other issues – and Safety was at the top of my list. Although safety is always at the back of my mind, the discussion about safety guidelines with regards to the bloody syringe incident emphasised the issue and I was in a heightened state of alertness while briefing participants and talking to Organisers.

I also appreciated the trash weighing and data collation aspects of our operations more. During the Sungei Tampines mangrove cleanup, I wished we had filmed our volunteers systematically weighing the trash and the Data I/Cs gathering to collate site data. It would have been great footage for a “How to Conduct a Cleanup” video in the future! After I briefed the volunteers, they were really willing to contribute and were thorough!

Securing the trash bags before weighing

Data I/Cs concentrating on their task!

Your not-so-ambitious, easily satisfied Northeast Zone Captain signs off here as she happily looks forward to attending the upcoming ICCS debrief and chill out time with her fellow ICCS Otters.

For more pictures of the Sungei Tampines cleanup, see the Flickr album.

NUS @ ICCS 2011 – Going Green and Greener in our 9th year!

NUS Environmental Science and Engineering Students Club reflect on their efforts in leading NUS staff and students to the International Coastal Cleanup to a new cleanup site this year at Lim Chu Kang East mangrove. This is the 9th year of their efforts, which began in 2003!

On 17 September 2011, approximately 125 staff and student volunteers from NUS conducted a cleanup at Lim Chu Kang East mangrove as part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS). They were also accompanied by a team of experienced personnel, including Mr N. Sivasothi who has been coordinating mangrove cleanups since 1997.

The International Coastal Cleanup is conducted in over 70-100 countries. Volunteers do more than remove debris from the shorelines and waterways, they also collect data on the type and amount of debris to bring about positive change. This is through recognition of the specifics of the marine debris problem as the data is public and also submitted to governments and international organisations

The morning briefing with the biodiesel-fueled buses
parked along Lim Chu Kang Lane 9

Each year, we re-use gloves and clipboards which are washed and kept away and ICCS data cards were printed on single-side used paper to minimise waste. An additional green touch was achieved by collaborating with Alpha Biodiesel – the three 44-seater buses which brought students and staff from and back to NUS were supplied with Alpha biodiesel – processed from used cooking oil, the net life cycle emissions of such fuel is 95% less than that of ordinary diesel fuel, thus reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released to the environment [Chua, C. B. H., H. M. Lee & J. S. C. Low, 2010. Life cycle emissions and energy study of biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil and diesel in Singapore. Int J Life Cycle Assess, 15 (4): 417-423.] .

We were glad to make this year’s ICCS event a little greener and hope this collaboration will continue!

The mangroves at Lim Chu Kang East have been choked by an accumulation of marine trash from various sources including shoreline activities, dumping and local construction debris over the years – this was the first time the area would be cleaned!

NUS staff and students endured the heat, dirt, mud, and even the occasional “rotten-egg” smell (due to hydrogen sulphide being naturally released from the mangrove soil) – for about 90 minutes. This effort to rid the mangrove of as much trash as possible eliminated a total of 1,887 kg of debris in 181 trash bags excluding bulky items such as oil drums and tyres – imagine the total amount of waste!

Plastic debris amidst the mangrove estuary before the cleanup

Count and categorise before clearing trash

Free of plastic once again, phew!

Data collation

The most frequently collected items included plastic bags and plastic beverage bottles. Several interesting discoveries included a television set, car bumper, basin and even a toilet bowl! There was indeed a stark contrast in the appearance of the mangrove before and after the cleanup. For details of the debris collected, see the ICCS Results page for LCK East mangrove at http://coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg/results/2011/nw-lckeast-nus.htm

This was the 9^th year that students from the NUS Environmental Science and Engineering Students Club (ESESC) have been organising the cleanup for NUS students and staff. During the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium III held a week after ICCS on 24 September 2011, the club was recognised for its dedicated efforts and contributions.

NUS ESESC president, Algernon Hong receiving the ICCS citation
from the Minister of State for National Development, BG (Res) Tan Chuan-Jin

It was definitely great to see everyone toiling hard in the morning to play their part for the coastal environment. We hope the event serves as a reminder to each and every individual of the need to reduce the use of non-biodegradable items and to dispose trash appropriately to safeguard the health of the marine animals, ourselves and the environment.

Finally, we wish our juniors in the years ahead, great success at ICCS 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015…until our marine debris problem is eliminated!

By Derek Ang and Vionna Luah, on behalf of all the organisers of ICCS-NUS 2011. Photos by Andy Dinesh.