Coastal Cleanup in Zambales
The Subic Shore It Up! International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) on September 21, 2013 proved to be a consistent environmental event that is celebrated every 3rd Saturday of September, with the Philippines being the second largest participating country in the world with 143,946 volunteers in 2012.
Despite the rainy weather, people participated and have spread out to their nearby cleanup sites that have been expanded this year. Thus, they were able to see first-hand that there is trash not only in the beaches and coastal areas but also even in their very own locations. These included four locations in the Subic Bay Freeport, all 17 Barangays of Olongapo City and 11 towns from Zambales, for a total of 47 cleanup sites. An official count is yet to be announced, but to date, there are approximately at least 20,000 volunteers.
“Our objective for the Shore It Up! ICC has always been to unite everyone in cleaning our waterways and inspire people to change their methods of dealing with trash,” explained Jun Avecilla, ICC Area Coordinator, International Vice Commodore of IYFR and President of The Lighthouse Marina Resort.
They achieved their goal in tapping all 17 Barangays of Olongapo and the working group of Zambales for a series of Waste Management Seminars in August and September, conducted by Bert Guevara, president of Earth Day Network.
Not only were they able to reach out to officials and other concerned citizens, but the whole Saturday was dedicated to educating children and the public for a sequence of environmental activities.
MPIF invited 50 Cub Scouts and 50 Girl Scouts ages 8-9 for a Junior Environmental Scouts Seminar after the coastal cleanup.
This was followed by Water Bonsai Making by the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) of Zambales to the Senior Scouts of Olongapo City Regional High School Students and a Contreras Sculptures & Casa San Miguel Art Workshop with Special Program of the Arts (SPA) students from several Olongapo City High Schools, all aimed to instill values in the minds of the youth.
Through the data collected from Ocean Conservancy’s annual cleanup, innovations to develop materials, manufacturing processes and products that will interrupt the cycle of pollution has been made.
The Lighthouse Marina Resort, in one of the largest volunteer efforts in the world for ocean preservation, collaborated with the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians (IYFR) Philippine Fleet, Metro Pacific Investments Foundation (MPIF) and the Ocean Conservancy and ICC Philippines