Grenadines prepare for worldwide beach cleanup

For the fifth consecutive year, Sustainable Grenadines Inc. (SusGren) is coordinating the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in the Grenadines.{{more}}

ICC 2010 is scheduled for September 25, 2010, and will see volunteers in the Grenadine Islands from Bequia in the North to Carriacou and Petite Martinique in the South participating in this year’s activity.

Every year during this global event, hundreds of thousands of people in more than 80 countries remove millions of pounds of trash from waterways and beaches all over the world. In 2009, over 300 volunteers from the Grenadine Islands removed 2 tons of trash from 10 miles of shoreline to make ICC 2009 a great success.

“The broad goal of ICC is to develop a greater appreciation of and personal responsibility for litter that would likely end up in the sea,” says the SusGren Project Manager, Martin Barriteau. “We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded new funding from the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and the Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Management Network and Forum (CaMPAM) to work on reducing marine litter in the Grenadines.”

The ocean is essential to the health of all living things on our plane, but harmful impacts like climate change and garbage are taking their toll. Litter in the ocean kills countless seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles each year through ingestion and entanglement. ICC brings awareness and action to this global problem, and provides a tangible way for individuals to directly make a difference.

Community groups, schools, business establishments, individuals and other non governmental organizations have contributed to the success of ICC in the past and have pledged their continued support of the activity for 2010. So far, the Palm Island Resort in the Southern Grenadines and the Communal Credit Union Carriacou Office Branch have contributed to the activity.

What you can do:

Organize a Cleanup for your neighbourhood, school or local beach

• Donate a few hours of your time to help out with a Cleanup event

• Donate materials (garbage bags, gloves, refreshments or funds) to support the Grenadines Cleanup efforts

For further information on how to volunteer, or to sponsor this event, please contact the Sustainable Grenadines Inc. in Clifton, Union Island, at (784) 485-8779. You can also watch for the ICC posters which will be displayed throughout the islands of the Grenadines as they will include further details regarding the cleanup that has been organized in your own community. The group invites the public to take note and come out in large numbers to assist within their communities to ensure ICC 2010 is a great success.