RESIDENTS were urged to participate in a voluntary cleanup drive at the Guadalupe River in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City.
Zero Co. founder and environment advocate Mike Smith, who led the initiative, which started on Sunday, July 7, 2024, called for extra manpower to help remove the large volume of plastics, diapers, sanitary napkins, and condoms, among other waste, from the river.
Smith, who hails from New South Wales in Australia, and his team aim to clear the area of solid waste. “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 in a Facebook post.
“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 volunteer groups have already collected over 5,000 bags of rubbish from the shores of Pasil.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau 7 report, Guadalupe River is a “highly contaminated” body of water.
The river is contaminated with domestic wastewater and solid waste from nearby households in the densely populated area of Metro Cebu, it said.
Smith’s group said 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 mentioned in a Facebook post that the cleanup drive will end on July 17.
All individuals who wish to participate are advised to bring their 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 want to come down and do this clean-up, 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,” Smith said. / DPC