The Philippines is in the top 3 of participating countries in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) 2015 report of Ocean Conservancy.
Ocean Conservancy, initiators of the cleanup event held every 3rd Saturday of September and the world’s largest volunteer effort for the ocean’s health, ranked the Philippines in 2nd spot after the United States, and ahead of Canada.
ICC recorded the Philippines as having collected 448,503 pounds of trash, with a total of 2,031,420 collected items from 208.3 miles of shorelines.
About 100 countries with nearly 562,000 volunteers collected more than 16 million pounds of trash along more than 13,000 miles of shorelines during the International Coastal Cleanup.
The top ten items collected around the world were cigarette butts (2,248,065), food wrappers (1,376,133), plastic beverage bottles (988,965), plastic bottle caps (811,871), straw and stirrers (519,911), other plastic bags (489,968), plastic grocery bags (485,204), glass beverage bottles (396,121), beverage cans (382,608), and plastic cups and plates (376,479).
Ocean Conservancy advocates fighting for trash-free seas as one of its science-based, innovative, and sustainable solutions for a healthy ocean. Its agenda includes supporting sustainable fisheries and marine protected areas and fighting ocean acidification—while engaging with partners from private sectors and corporations who believe that a healthy ocean is good for business.
The Philippines has been participating in the ICC clearing of beaches, coasts, rivers, waterways and underwater dive sites since 1994.
