Some twenty ONE (SINGAPORE) volunteers cleared more than 120kg of rubbish from Punggol Beach on a rainy Saturday morning, as part of an International Coastal Cleanup that was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to plastic bottles, grocery bags, plastic takeaway containers, cigarette butts and packaging materials, volunteers found discarded handbags, plastic toys and even something buried in the sand that appeared to be part of a foam mattress or bed.
Every item collected was logged and the data shared with Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy group. Below is a glance at what was found; you can check out the full list here.
Millions of tons of plastic are dumped in the ocean every year, killing sea birds, whales, seals, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine life. Not only that, plastic production requires millions of barrels of petroleum, contributing to climate change, which in turn disproportionately affects impoverished countries.
As part of the Sustainable Development Goals, the nations of the world have pledged to significantly reduce marine pollution - particularly from land-based activities - by 2025.
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