79 young eco-champions did their part for the environment by collecting and categorizing the marine trash on the beaches of Pulau Ubin on July 29.
The coastal cleanup event was organised by Outward Bound Singapore (OBS), in collaboration with International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS).
Some of the items collected include abandoned car tyres, pails, styrofoam boxes and even a television set weighing 27kg.
Said Asyraf Ramli, a 16-year-old student from Manjusri Secondary School, “I was very shocked when I found the TV. I expected to see only plastic bottles and plastic bags. It is an eye-opener to see that the beaches in Pulau Ubin littered with such trash because there are no cleaners here, unlike in East Coast Park.”
The youngest volunteer, 10-year-old Mark Joshua John participated in the event with his mother, Magdalene Ng. Said Ms Ng, “Mark has really come a long way. He used to be afraid of sitting on the sand because he found it dirty. Now, he is actually cleaning the beach for a good cause.”
The event aimed to provide a platform for past participants of OBS programmes to serve the community and for them to gain a deeper appreciation for their environment. They can then hopefully be ‘green’ ambassadors who will spread the message of environmental conservation among their peers.
This article was first published in Asiaone