EAUC helps remove trash from Mactan beaches

MORE than 40 volunteers from East Asia Utilities Corp. (EAUC) cleaned up 220 meters of coastline along the Mactan Channel to mark the 1

st

National Cleanup Day and the 30

th

International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 17, 2016.

EAUC team members and partners collected more than 570 kilos of trash, of which about 440 kilos are plastics and styrofoam.

Like the rest of the Aboitiz Group, AboitizPower and its subsidiaries conduct activities that promote environmental conservation and biodiversity enhancement, including coastal clean-ups and reforestation.

The coastal clean-up that began at 6 a.

m. ended at 8 a.

m. because the tide had covered the shore.

Aside from plastics and styrofoam, EAUC volunteers also collected 56 kilos of fabric or cloth, 23 kilos of tires, almost 50 kilos of glass bottles and six kilos of tin cans.

September was declared National Cleanup Month by President Ramos under Proclamation 244, as the Philippines’ commitment to the InternationalCoastal Cleanup (ICC). The ICC was adopted by the Philippines in 2003 through a proclamation signed by President Arroyo.

Last year, almost 800,000 volunteers from 92 countries and locations joined the ICC. Volunteers picked up a total of 8,193,200 kilos of rubbish from more than 40,500 kilometers of beaches, waterways and underwater areas.

The event aims to engage people not only to remove trash but also to refrain from throwing wastes and polluting water bodies.

Trash found in rivers, creeks, lakes, seas and oceans pose a danger to marine animals that accidentally ingest them. Pollution also poses a serious threat to water quality and the marine ecosystem, a major source of food of Filipinos. ###