INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP
KWAZULU-NATAL - 16TH OF SEPTEMBER 2006

Saturday the 16th September saw more than 700 000 volunteers in 100 countries throughout the world take part in the International Coastal Cleanup.
This annual event brings together people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and languages in pursuit of one common goal – Cleaning the earth’s oceans and waterways of marine debris.

In Kwazulu Natal the 16th September dawned with no wind and slightly overcast weather making for ideal beach cleanup conditions. This saw 7 456 volunteers turn out to clean their beaches, estuaries, reefs and rivers from Port Edward to Kosi Bay. A total of 515km’s of beach and 60km’s of inland rivers was cleaned and 6 700 bags of trash collected equating to 24 031 Kg’s

The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism Ms R. Mabudafasi, the MEC Professor G. Ndabandaba and the Deputy Mayor Mr L.Naidoo together with the CEO of EKZN Wildlife and Executive Staff, representatives of our major sponsor Coca Cola and associated sponsors – Enviromark (Plastics Federation), Toyota SA, Sappi, Richards Bay assisted the 1 800 volunteers with the cleanup at Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve.

Some of the unusual items collected by volunteers included 1x rake, 1x toilet cistern, 2x pillows, 1x gas cylinder, 1 x Oxygen cylinder, 1x hair dryer, 1x dead chicken, 1x shopping trolly, 1x lawn mower, 1x toaster, animal bones, 1x coffee mug, 1x wine bucket, pair of police boots, 2x lipsticks, 1x broom head, 1x candle stick holder, lots of condoms.

The significant success of this cleanup is that each item of litter collected is recorded and categorised into coastal based activities, these being Shoreline & recreational, Ocean & River, Smoking Related Activities and Dumping.

Preliminary results show that approximately 70 % of all litter collected in this year’s cleanup fell into the Shoreline & Recreational activities category, with plastic being the main component.

This data collected forms part of a global database, which currently represents 18 years of volunteer efforts and contains over 70 million pieces of data from over 100 countries. This information is used to educate people and create solutions to the problems of solid waste and litter. Through partnerships with business, government, environment groups and citizens of Kwazulu Natal, we are helping to change the behaviours and practices that create litter.

In Kwazulu Natal we have been part of this global cleanup programme since it’s inception in 1997. KZN Wildlife acknowledges with enormous appreciation the support of Coca Cola and the associated sponsors Toyota SA, Sappi, Richards Bay Minerals, and Enviromark – Plastics Federation, without whom the Coastal Cleanup would not be possible.