20th annual 2005 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Event in Hong Kong Organized by Ecovision and Co-Coordinated by the Civic Exchange and Ocean Conservancy, scheduled for Sunday, September 18th. Hong Kong’s premier environmental protection and education facilitator is once again organizing this years Costal Clean Up Day….

The timing of this years’ event is particularly poignant for Hong Kong as the event coincides with the Mid Autumn Festival when every year, an average of 150 tons of rubbish is produced in the aftermath of the night’s festivities.

Over the past few years the event has grown to become a great success and as it continues to grow the community understands the importance and sees the benefit of participation.

In addition to this increased participation, the total amount of trash collected and number of beaches cleaned has risen as well. In the past 20 years, the original 2,800 volunteers worldwide have grown to a cumulative total of 5.2 million. From 1986 to 2004, the ICC has removed 100 million pounds of marine debris from over 150 000 miles of shoreline, which is five times the circumference of the globe. Last year more than half a million people from over 100 countries around the globe participated in the clean up, collecting close to 10 million pounds of debris.

In Hong Kong, the number of participants rose from 439 in 1999 to 2,224 in 2004. Last year we collected a cumulative total of 209 138 pounds of debris, and covered 86 miles of shoreline (both on land and underwater).

Check out some photos from last years event