AN INTERNATIONAL environmental group encouraged locals from Cebu to participate in a voluntary cleanup drive at the Guadalupe River in Pasil, Cebu City.
The cleanup started last Sunday, July 7, 2024.
The initiative, spearheaded by environment advocate and founder of Zero Co., Mike Smith, together with his team, aims to clear the area of solid waste.
In his Facebook post, Smith called for extra manpower to help in removing the large amount of plastics, diapers, sanitary napkins, and condoms, among others, from the river.
“This is a call-out to everyone in Cebu City. We are doing a clean-up on the beach at Pasil near the mouth of Guadalupe River. There is so much rubbish here we can’t clean it up ourselves,” said Smith.
“Our goal is to remove all the rubbish on this beach but we can’t do it alone. Please come down and help us. We need some volunteers,” he added.
As of July 12, the team and volunteering groups have already tidied over 5,000 bags of rubbish from the shores of Pasil.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau-Region 7 report, Guadalupe River is a “highly contaminated” body of water. It is contaminated with domestic wastewater and solid waste from nearby households in the densely populated area of Metro Cebu.
The group said that those who wish to join may go to the area below the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway as early as 4 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Smith said in a Facebook post that the cleanup drive will end on July 17.
All individuals who ought to participate are advised to bring their own alcohol, extra shirts and gloves, preferably double-layered to avoid injury from sharp objects and needles found in the pile of garbage.
Surgical and cloth-material gloves are not recommended.
Individuals with open wounds, planning to offer a helping hand, are discouraged to avoid contracting leptospirosis and other similar illnesses.
“Anyone out there in Cebu, if you wanna come down and do this cleanup we will be very appreciative of that. We have gloves and sacks for volunteers. We will be here from 4:00 to 11:00 a.m., Saturday and Sunday. We’ve got a whole beach to go,” said Smith. (DPC)