Pangaea Young Explorers clear 359kg of marine trash in 40 trash bags from Lim Chu Kang beach

Nicolette Meyer writes,

“9th of October 2010 – this was the day that the Pangaea Young Explorers Program held their first ever cleanup in Singapore. Twenty youth from across the island as well as volunteers from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore gathered at Lim Chu Kang Beach, one of the few places in Singapore with mangroves left. It is unprotected and doesn’t get cleared off debris – a perfect location for our cleanup!

At 4pm the enthusiastic Young Explorers started the cleanup: armed with reinforced cotton gloves and black plastic bags, they set off to clear as much rubbish in two hours as possible.

And what strange bits of rubbish we found! A surf board, sofa and even a football trophy were among the usual plastic bottles and bags. As first-time participants of a cleanup, we were thoroughly shocked by the amount of litter that floats to our shores within a month (the site was cleaned just one month ago!) AND the kinds of rubbish people throw into our seas!

With sweat dripping down our foreheads (it was a hot day) and our backs aching from bending over, our hard work and effort paid off when we saw the huge amount of rubbish we collected and the difference it made to the area – 359kg of rubbish in 40 trash bags! The beach looked much cleaner than when we first arrived, which shows that to save our planet, action needs to start at a local level.

Thank you very much International Coastal Cleanup Singapore for helping us organise this highly successful event! We are thoroughly looking forward to future cleanups…

Photos from:
KC Auyeong – link
Pangaea Young Explorers Program – link

About the Pangaea Young Explorers Program
This program is the brainchild of Mike Horn, reknowned explorer who has circumnavigated the Arctic Circle and Equator without the use of motorised vehicles, swam down the Amazon river, reached the North pole in winter without the use of vehicles or dogs.

After visiting the most extreme and beautiful environments this world has to offer and the fragile state it’s in, he realised that he needed to pass down his knowledge and passion for the environment to the youth of today. The end-result? A four-year expedition that aims to bring youths for an all-expense paid trip to EXPLORE the most beautiful places on earth, including Antarctica, the Amazon, the Himalayas and the Gobi desert.

LEARN about the environmental problems these places face through experts in the fields and locals as well as ACT to conserve this planet for future generations. To learn more about the program, visit www.mikehorn.com. If you’re between the age of 15-20, YOU can apply for this life-changing experience today!