Celebrate World Environment Day with a coastal cleanup @ Tanah Merah 7!

In conjunction with World Environment Day, volunteers with International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) will be conducting a marine trash cleanup at Tanah Merah Beach 7 on Sat 06 Jun 2015: 8.00am – 10.30am.

Registration is closed, thank you to everyone who signed up!

World Environment Day is a day sanctioned by the United Nations (UN) that aims to raise global awareness about the environment and encourage everyone to take positive action to protect our natural environment.

Why Cleanup? In Singapore, our coastlines host a vast amount of biodiversity. Trash present in these areas can impact our wildlife adversely and devalue the natural beauty of the landscape. Volunteers in Singapore, like other concerned individuals around the world, conduct coastal cleanups to remove this trash, raise awareness about the impact of marine trash, and motivate us to adopt sustainable practises in daily urban living.

Tanah Merah Beach 7 is state land located in the east of Singapore, next to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT). This area is closed to members of the public and permission is needed for access .

At first view, Tanah Merah Beach 7 appears pristine. However, within the vegetation of the high strandline lies accumulated trash.

 

Meeting Point: On the event day of 6th June 2015, we will meet at 7.45am at Carpark D opposite the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT), and walk over to the cleanup site.

Directions from Tanah Merah MRT to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT)

• Participants can take bus 35 from the Tanah Merah MRT bus stop (bus code: 85091).
• Alight 4 stops later, at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal bus stop (bus code: 96219).
• Yang Yiyong (see image below) will be stationed at the TMFT bus stop, so alight when you see him! He will be wearing a bright red shirt.

Directions to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT)

Itinerary 

• 7:45am – We meet at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal carpark, and walk over to the cleanup site together.
• 8.00am – Briefing and identification of Trash Collection Point (TCP). Brief of wet weather plans (which is to carry on unless there is a lighting threat). Organise everyone into groups of four, apply insect repellant, collect gloves, trash bags, and other required logistics.
• 8.15am – Cleanup begins @ TM7 Beach
• 9.30am – End of clean-up. Trash is weighed and discussion/ reflection time.
• 9.45am – Transportation of trash to TCP.
• 10.15am – Participants clean up. Recreational facilities are available at the nearby Ferry Terminal.
• 10.30am – Event ends.

Things to note

1. Gloves, trash bags and weighing scales are provided.
2. You must wear hard-soled covered shoes or booties to to protect your feet from hazards.
3. A change of clothes is recommended after a sweaty workout.
4. Long pants are recommended to protect your legs from insect bites, but bermudas are fine.
5. In the event of bad weather, we will continue the cleanup. The event will stop in the case of lightning threat.

Things to bring:

1. Water bottle (with at least one litre of water)
2. Hat and/ or sun block
3. Reusable raincoat/ poncho
4. Towel to wipe off sand and mud

Be prepared:

1. Sleep early the night before
2. Have a decent breakfast – it’s hard work!
3. Be punctual – we are unable to wait for latecomers; tide waits for no one!
4. Refer to this recce report of TM7 for more information on the cleanup site.
5. Please read our advice to participants to prepare yourself for the cleanup!

Thank you for caring for the environment!

Observing recruitment of marine trash over 2 weeks @ Lim Chu Kang – World Biodiversity Day Coastal Cleanup

On 3 May 2015, 29 volunteers went with us to Lim Chu Kang Beach during “Operation WE (coastal) Clean Up!” and removed 892kg of trash.

2 weeks later, 32 of us headed down to Lim Chu Kang Beach again in commemoration of World Biodiversity Day and in 76 trash bags, removed 518kg worth of marine trash.

  

Despite removing a huge trash load 2 weeks ago, Lim Chu Kang beach was once again littered with plastics and styrofoam when we returned on Saturday evening.

Everyone working hard to free the mudflat of trash.

Although only 2 weeks has passed since our last cleanup, we still collected another 518kg worth of trash comprising of items like plastic bottles, plastic bags, food wrappers and styrofoam pieces. This is only a tiny fraction of the trash that is polluting our oceans and coastal habitats.

Where does this trash come from? The production of plastic has soared since it first started getting produced in the 1950s, and in 2013 we were producing 299 million tonnes of plastic globally. As a lightweight and versatile material, plastic is no doubt an extremely useful invention. However, single use plastic items can end up accumulating in landfills or littering our beaches and mangroves.

The production of plastic soaring from the 1950s to 2013. Source: statista.com, 2013.

Coastal cleanups can only do so much to lighten the burden of trash on our coastal environment. What can we do to address plastic pollution in our daily lives? Start small by rejecting single-use plastics like straws when buying iced drinks. Bring your own tumbler or coffee mug when you takeaway your morning coffee, or use your own lunchbox when you buy takeaway meals. These are easy things we can do to reduce our impact on our environment. Say no to single-use plastics, and spread the word of sustainability to your family and friends!

We ended the cleanup with a debrief where we discussed actions we can take on to reduce our use of disposables.

Thank you to everyone who came down on World Biodiversity Day, it was a great effort in caring for our Lim Chu Kang mudflats!