| Syazwani Hj Rosli |
ALL in all, a total of 531 plastic bottles, 17 plastic straws, 30 cigarettes and 30 bags of mixed litter were collected during the Advancement of the Community and Environment (ACE) Team Muara Beach Campaign yesterday.
Over 50 volunteers gathered as early as seven in the morning at Muara Beach to give the stretch of sand a much-needed spruce-up.
The event aimed to raise awareness on environmental issues plaguing marine animals, encourage environmental-friendly thinking, as well as promote public participation and collaboration on the issue of environmental hygiene.
It also sought to promote the use of reusable items such as metal straws, bags and reusable bottles in replacement of disposable or single-use plastics.
Joining the effort, initiated by the ACE team in collaboration with the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe) under the Ministry of Development (MoD) and Green Brunei with the support of Sip Bn, was Legislative Council member and Green Brunei founder Yang Berhormat Khairunnisa binti Haji Ash’ari.
During the clean-up, the collected litter was separated into the following categories: plastic straws, bottles, bags, containers, cups and miscellaneous items.
A ‘Bring Your Own (BYO) Awareness Campaign’ and ‘Donate Your Reusable Bag Campaign’ were also held alongside the beach cleanup.
The ‘BYO Awareness Campaign’ seeks to raise awareness on the importance of bringing one’s own reusables – for example when eating out or for picnics – and other alternatives in place of single-use plastics, whereas the ‘Donate Your Reusable Bag Campaign’ encouraged the volunteers and the public to donate their reusable bags.
The collected bags will be used for the latter campaign’s official launch at Pasar Pelbagai Barangan Gadong on a date yet to be announced.
The beach clean-up also featured no-sew T-shirt bag making demonstrations. The demos sought to inform the public how their otherwise unused T-shirts can be upcycled into handy no-sew T-shirt bags.