MARIGOT--During three hours early Sunday morning, 416 enthusiastic and environmentally-conscious volunteers succeeded in collecting 153 bags of trash weighing 5,193 pounds, despite difficult access due to bushy vegetation on Baie Nettle coast line, organisers of the 2015 International Coastal Clean-Up revealed.
The amount did not include the large debris found, such as ironing board, bath tub, fridge, beach chairs, signage and lots of plastic buckets.
The annual exercise was another resounding success with participants gathering at Le Sands/Dreams property in Baie Nettle to receive instructions for the clean-up.
“Volunteers consisted of individuals, high school students, social groups and business employees, who showed true dedication in helping to solve our marine environment for this annual event spearheaded by the Ocean Conservancy,” organisers said in their release.
The local leg of ICC is organised and coordinated by the Dutch-side environmental foundation Sint Maarten Pride Foundation and the French-side hiking group SXM Trails.
Volunteers included several businesses on the island, whose employees were out in full force wearing their company T-shirts to reflect their team spirit.
Among the businesses represented were Kooyman, Garnier, FedEx, DOTCOM Marketing, Rotaract Sunrise, Be The Change Foundation, SXM DOET, Simarc, We Can Give Foundation, Tzu Chi, Rotary Clubs from both sides of the island, Les Fruits de Mer, Filipino Community of SXM, EPIC, Interact Club of SDHS and many students of St. Dominic, CIA and Learning Unlimited.
“Since this beach is not used for recreation, it is very clear that this sort of trash found is washed up from the currents in the oceans,” organisers reasoned. “A very large amount of trash from the maritime industry was found, buoys, large ropes and nets. However, the largest item found was the ubiquitous plastic bottle in all shapes and sizes. It’s difficult to determine if this sort of trash was dumped from boats, maritime industry or dumping activities on land.”
The International Coastal Clean-up encourages volunteers to play scientist for a day by recording every piece of trash collected. This is added onto a special data card and total results will be sent in the coming weeks to Ocean Conservancy.
Ocean Conservancy indicates volunteers have collected data since 1986, and the numbers are used to raise awareness, identify hotspots for debris or unusual trash events, and to facilitate policy solutions.
“The Pride foundation thanks our sponsors who have been donating to this event annually; Zeebest, Cake House Bakery, Heavenly Water, Kooyman, Mediocosmetic, Prime Distributors and J&B Brothers.
We also thank Le Sands/Dreams Restaurant, the French Territorial Police, and the Collectivité of St. Martin for their assistance.”
