Plastic Punch Marks International Coastal Clean-up Day With Turtle Beach Cleaning

Plastic Punch, an environmental and aquatic life protection advocacy organization last week hosted a beach clean-up for schools in the turtle nesting areas of New Ningo.

This was in commemoration of this year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day which fell on September, 15th.

The event was part of the organization’s initiatives on World Clean Up Day to raise awareness on the dangers of plastics on the environment, humans and marine life.

The event drew 150 volunteers of all ages, who came together, to remove 100 kilograms of debris from the shoreline for which 80% were plastic wastes. The debris included hundreds of plastic bottles, water sachets, dozens of food wrappers, construction materials among several others.

The volunteers came from the New Ningo Community, New Ningo D/A Basic B School, Good Shepherd Methodist Church New Ningo, Association International School Accra, international volunteers from Accra.

On the mission to impact the next generation of Plastic Punchers on good waste management practices, the team segregated the waste at the beach and collected a full container with about 100kg of plastics.

On the other side were some other activities including a creative art workshop on the environment, where the children expressed themselves with regards to the plastic issues and marine lives.

During the “Find the turtle nest game” children were exposed to the importance of marine conservation and acquired knowledge on the turtle nesting process as well as the dangers the turtles may encounter in the ocean and on the shore.

The plastics collected from the beach will be turned into bricks for construction by Transformers International and the returns will be used to improve the sanitation situation in the community.

The beach clean-up was funded partly by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust award grant and private donations. Snacks were provided by Koala Supermarkets and the Ningo Prampram District Assembly supported the initiative