Filipino activists pick trash to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day

Dozens of volunteers participated in a cleanup drive along a coastline in the outskirts of Manila to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day on Friday. 

Over 50 sacks of plastic waste, mostly single-use plastic containers and sachets, were collected by volunteers during the cleanup drive.

Robert Medrano from the Earth Island Institute Asia Pacific urged residents to cut their use of single-use plastics and switch to reusable containers instead. Medrano also called for corporations to choose eco-friendly alternatives instead of plastic packaging.

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The Philippines is the planet’s worst polluter when it comes to releasing plastic waste into the ocean, accounting for 36 percent of the total input globally, according to an updated April 2022 report by the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford.

International Coastal Cleanup Day is a global event held annually on the third Saturday of September to raise awareness of the growing garbage problems affecting coastlines around the world.

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Production: Adrian Portugal