Eager volunteers, including staffers of Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (RDM), braved the weather and high tides to roll their sleeves up to participate in this year’s International Coastal Clean-up Day, which took place on Saturday 16 September.
The clean-up initiative was organised by Helderberg Ocean Awareness Movement (Hoam) and supported by various organisations, schools and community groups.
This world’s most significant annual initiative was celebrated on the theme “Let’s Do It World”, which seeks to raise awareness of marine litter polluting our ocean.
“RDM was honoured to be part of this International Coastal Clean-Up Day as we are responsible for 3 km of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area (MPA), home to various endangered species,” RDM said in a statement, adding that this event allowed them to revisit the MPA with employees for a clean-up and raise environmental awareness among their families who attended.
“Preserving our coastal habitats and creating a cleaner and healthier ecosystem is vital to us. We are launching our Waste Management Center, which will guarantee that our waste is recycled and sustainable, and we will continue being the patrons of the ocean. During the clean-up, RDM collected bags of plastic debris, including fishing lines and contributed to making the MPA environmentally friendly.”
Lisa Starr, founder of Hoam, said many important role-players from the community joined, set their gazebos up, brought helping hands and sponsored prizes for hard workers.
“The weather was on our side until 09:00 when the rain came down and we all held onto our gazebos for dear life,” she said. “But we weathered the storm and a break in the clouds appeared and the sunshine graced us with a welcome presence. The feet started to hit the beach and we had over 260 people who came to help clean-up.
“We as a community removed 1 037,5 kg of trash from our shoreline and dune area. We were blessed to be joined by Strand Neighbourhood Watch, Securite Rite and Marine Law Enforcement, who got into the dunes and also kept those attending safe. Prizes were given out, laughter was heard and fun had as this is a community movement. It’s great to see how people enjoy cleaning up, meeting new people, connecting and, most importantly, giving back to nature.”
The next beach clean-up by Hoam will be hosted on Saturday 14 October and will include a drumming session and fire-dance display.
