International Coastal Cleanup Day set for September 21

The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), national coordinator for International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day, will host this year’s event on September 21. The initiative is once again being supported by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the Ocean Conservancy.

Established in 1986 by the Ocean Conservancy, ICC Day is a global volunteer effort to remove trash from beaches and waterways. Over 17 million volunteers have collected more than 350 million pounds of trash since its inception. Held annually on the third Saturday of September, it is now one of the world’s largest annual volunteer preservation and protection events for our ocean, waves and beaches.

JET has coordinated ICC Day in Jamaica since 2008, drawing thousands of volunteers nationwide. In 2023, 6,859 volunteers from 106 groups collected 78,704 pounds of garbage from 106.98 miles of coastline across 183 cleanups in all 14 parishes.

Justin Saunders, JET’s programme director noted in a release that “registration is now open for groups wanting to host their own cleanup on ICC Day 2024. Groups must register with JET to be a site coordinator. Registration closes July 26. Cleanups can also be done on the Sunday after ICC Day”. He said, “If you do not want to host your own cleanup, you can volunteer for JET’s flagship cleanup, but registration for this does not open until August 26 and then closes September 9”.

The theme for ICC Day 2024 remains the same as last year, ‘Sea the Change’, with a special focus on plastic foam, commonly known as Styrofoam. This material is frequently found on beaches and waterways globally.

Dr Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, CEO of JET, emphasised the impact of cleanups by saying, “While beach cleanups alone do not solve the problem, removing thousands of pounds of garbage from our coastlines during cleanups significantly reduces the waste entering our marine environment, protecting fisheries, coral reefs, and marine ecosystems. Additionally, although plastic foam food containers and cups are no longer a major issue here in Jamaica, plastic foam pieces still rank among the top-five items collected on ICC Day.”

Dr Rodriguez-Moodie also said, “Other actions, such as the plastic ban, recycling, public education campaigns, such as Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica, and garbage barriers along the mouths of major gullies are also important in tackling the growing plastic problem we face in Jamaica.”

For further information, interested persons can visit JET’s social media pages and Website.