Taiwan’s 2nd ICC in 2010 a larger event

“Environmental groups to launch nationwide coastal cleanup Sept. 18,” by Lee Hsien-feng and Sofia Wu. CNA (Focus Taiwan), 03 Sep 2010.

“Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Coastal cleanup activities will be held around Taiwan Sept. 18 in support of a global ocean conservation campaign, major local environmental groups said Friday.

The advocacy groups, including the Taiwan Environmental Information Association, the Society of Wilderness (SOW) and the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation, said environmentally conscious people are welcome to take part in the coastal cleanup program.

Quantitative data concerning trash to be picked up from coastal regions around Taiwan that day will be sent to the headquarters of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in Texas, said an SOW spokesman.

The ICC has evolved from a single cleanup on a Texas beach 25 years ago into a worldwide movement dedicated to ending the threat of trash in oceans around the globe, the spokesman said.

Every year in September, volunteers in more than 100 countries remove millions of pounds of trash from beaches and waterways all over the world as part of the global volunteer effort for ocean conservation, he added.

According to the spokesman, the biggest difference between the ICC’s activities and other similar programs is that the ICC provides a form to record what was found in the cleanup.

“The trash and debris collected from the world’s beaches and waterways will be documented for analysis to identify their sources,” the spokesman said.

The ICC campaign, he said, is aimed at reminding the public of the gravity of ocean pollution and changing the behavior that allows trash and debris to reach the ocean in the first place.

Taiwan joined the ICC campaign last year for the first time, with 370 volunteers taking part in a 2.12-kilometer coastal cleanup effort that removed 172 kilograms of trash from beaches and coastal waters, the spokesman said.

This year, the spokesman said, all of the SOW branches in various parts of Taiwan will launch a coastal cleanup on Sept. 18, along with environmental groups in many other countries, including Australia.

“Prospective volunteers are welcome to search the SOW map to find a coastal site near them and sign up online (at www.sow.org.tw) for the activity,” the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation will document all the trash collected in Taiwan during the period and furnish the data to the ICC headquarters.”