International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICC) was held over the weekend with PAHO Jamaica taking part in the annual event to assist in the removal of tons of discarded plastic and other litter from Jamaica’s coastline.
PAHO employees and family members joined hundreds of volunteers gathered along the Palisadoes strip near the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, to assist in the cleanup.
Trash including plastic bottles, polystyrene containers, cigarette butts and straws are just some of the pollutants entering the waterways across Jamaica, littering the coastline and causing major environmental and public health concerns.
Environmental health is a leading cause of death and illness globally with an estimated 12.6 million deaths each year attributed to unhealthy environments, resulting in nearly one in four of total global deaths.
Recognized as the largest one-day volunteer event in the world, ICC is coordinated across 100 countries to collect millions of pounds of trash.
In Jamaica, the event was organized by the Jamaica Environment Trust and operates simultaneous collection sites at 140 beaches island wide, with over 9,000 volunteers.
