Seventh-day Adventist women clean up Beach Road area

After the sun rises on the morning every last Sunday of the month, the women from the Saipan Seventh-day Adventist Church comb the beach and pathway along Beach Road with only one intent—to clean up the beach area. Armed with rubber gloves, garbage bags on hand and hats to shield from the heat of the sun, the women tackle a couple of miles picking up litters and debris left by careless beach goers or passersby. Most common trash gathered by the group are soda cans, cigarette butts, water bottles, plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, bento food packs, candy wrappers, broken glasses, plastic cutleries, and fishing lines. The latest big haul was a car mudguard.

It is a known fact that the buildup of plastic debris and trash on beaches brings potential harm to the physical habitats threatening aquatic life and interfering with human uses of marine and coastal environments. Additionally, the unsightly garbage and debris reduces the attractiveness of our natural beach landscape to tourists and local residents.

Preservation of our environment by keeping it clean has a spiritual implication. “Taking good care of our environment is an expression of our love to God,” according to Yvette Mahinay, SDA Women’s Ministries leader. “As His stewards, we are helping maintain the cleanliness of our environment, including the beautiful beaches in Saipan,” Mahinay added.

Charie Restauro, assistant leader of the group, shared her gratefulness in being a part of this undertaking. “In my participation cleaning the beach, I have the opportunity to help not only our community but also our mother nature,” Restauro said. “Picking up trash on the side of the road gives me joy that even in small way I have helped to keep our environment clean and beautiful because everything the Lord has created, including our environment, is good.”

Cleaning up our beaches brings immense economic cost for the local government. The SDA Women Ministry hopes that this monthly community service helps preserve our coastline, promotes tourism industry for the island and contributes to the reduction of government’s maintenance cost in keeping our Saipan clean and beautiful. Most importantly, the team is hopeful that each individual who uses our beaches will be mindful and responsible to help keep our oceanfront alluring and debris-free. After all, “cleanliness is next to godliness.”

Anyone interested to join in the cleanup drive is welcome to participate. For more details, contact Mahinay at yvettemahinay@yaho.com. (PR)