During the annual Southwest monsoon—from June to September—a lot of marine litter washes ashore.
In 2019, the National Environment Agency collected about 500 tonnes of flotsam from East Coast Beach during this period.
The origin of marine litter mostly comes from land; when litter is discarded, if not well managed, finds its way into the ocean.
The awful sight of large amounts of litter on the beach was enough to motivate several young Singaporeans to help out with the cleaning in a coordinated manner via a Telegram group.
Inspired by these passionate and environmentally conscious Singaporeans, I decided to head to the beach one weekday morning to do my part.
I also downloaded a mobile app called “Litterati” which geo-tags the image and recommends tags for what kind of litter it is.
This data can then be collated and analysed by organisations, businesses and governments to create positive environmental policies.
Five items I was surprised to find at the beach
I arrived at a beach along Area B of East Coast Park (near East Coast Park White Jetty) at 7.15am where there was already quite a lot of litter, according to updates from the group.
Here’s what the beach at Area B of East Coast Park looked like that morning:
Even when someone was observed cleaning the area, you can still see litter across the stretch at Area B. And this was just one section of the entire East Coast Park.
While there were plenty of straws, drink bottles and aluminum cans, here are the top five pieces of litter I picked up (and disposed of) that really stood out:
Item #1: Correction liquid bottle
When I saw this bright red item, I was hit with nostalgia of my secondary school days.
Was someone correcting an essay or GE paper whilst swimming? Why was it even in the ocean to begin with?
Item #2: Motorbike helmet
This item takes the cake as the most ridiculous item I’ve encountered on a beach cleanup.
I really wondered where this came from and how it ended up being washed up on this shore.
I logged this item into the Litterati app by taking a photo and tagging it. Here’s what it looks like on the app:
Item #3: Fluorescent light tube
As my foot is about 24.5cm long, I estimated that this light tube was over 50cm long.
As the tube is made of glass, I was careful to dispose of it carefully;I didn’t want it to break and cause further danger to other beach goers.
Item #4: Thermos flask
Warm water, anyone?
This flask, which is usually used to keep drinking water or other beverages warm, was another odd item I encountered on the cleanup. By now I was craving a warm cup of tea.
Item #5: Children’s alphabet play mat
I hope the child who lost this foam mat will not forget that ‘N’ is one of the 26 letters in the alphabet.
Another child-related item I found was baby powder. I don’t understand how it found its way here to the beach as well.
Every piece of litter counts
With World Cleanup Day happening on September 19 2020, you can join in on this global clean up challenge locally by participating in the ALL_TOGETHER SINGAPORE CLEANUP.
The ALL_TOGETHER SINGAPORE CLEANUP challenge is organised by the Alliance To End Plastic Waste, a nonprofit organisation which aims to tackle the issues of plastic waste entering the ocean every year, in partnership with the Litterati app.
The challenge is part of a global movement involving countries such as the United States, Brazil, Germany, China, New Zealand and Australia.
One of the main messages that Alliance is driving through this movement is “every piece of litter counts”.
While it is a mammoth task to clear up all the litter in the world, every piece that we pick up and dispose of properly helps to reduce the amount of litter that is carried back to sea.
Join the global movement and keep Singapore clean
With the Litterati app, you can join the ALL_TOGETHER SINGAPORE CLEANUP event from today to October 4.
Anyone can join in, and all you have to do is download the Litterati app (iOS, Android) and set up an account to declare your participation.
From there, go under the Challenges tab, key in the code CLEANSG and you’ll automatically join the ALL_TOGETHER SINGAPORE CLEANUP challenge. Next, take a photo of your litter, upload it and you’ll be able to view your logged entry in the challenge.
The target to beat for the national challenge is 25,000 pieces of litter.
Imagine if 1,000 people just picked 25 pieces of litter each. We can make a great difference together.
Unfortunately, litter can be found everywhere.
This means you don’t necessarily have to go to East Coast Park to participate in this challenge.
You can record the litter you pick up in your neighbourhood, such as these items I found at a HDB block’s lift:
Join in the movement during World Cleanup Day (virtually) with others in Singapore, together with the Alliance To End Plastic Waste and Litterati.
If you do head out with your friends or family for a cleanup, don’t forget to adhere to social distancing measures and not have a group larger than five.
I would also recommend bringing along some long Tongs (like the ones for BBQ sessions), trash bags, gloves, and your mask.
Together we can definitely make our planet a cleaner place.
The writer of this sponsored article by Alliance To End Plastic Waste has joined the ALL_TOGETHER SINGAPORE CLEANUP challenge.
Top images by writer.