{"id":329917,"date":"2020-09-17T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T20:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=329917"},"modified":"2020-09-17T06:00:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T20:00:29","slug":"we-dont-want-an-island-full-of-trash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/we-dont-want-an-island-full-of-trash\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We don\u2019t want an island full of trash\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Over a thousand volunteers came together to pick up trash at different locations in the CNMI to join the global community in the International Coastal Cleanup celebration last year. (Iva Maurin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Youth volunteer group Saipan Cleanup is on a mission to clean the beaches of Saipan one hike at a time. Formed in March, they were appalled at the amount of trash they saw on the beach, decided to take action, and are now a big inspiration to many in the community. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A perfect weekend would be going to the beach to swim and have a picnic. Now imagine arriving at the beach and then seeing over 14,000 cigarette butts, almost 4,000 beverage cans, 1,500 plastic bottles, and over a thousand food wrappers scattered all over the place.<\/p>\n

That would probably spoil the fun, right? <\/p>\n

Yet these are exactly the kind and amount of trash the over 1,600 volunteers collected in the CNMI during the International Coastal Cleanup in September last year.<\/p>\n

This Saturday, Sept. 19, the CNMI community will again join the rest of the world in this international cleanup event, and we are all counting on each other to take part in keeping this beautiful island clean. According to Division of Coastal Resources Management\u2019s Colleen Flores, who oversees the island\u2019s ICC, about 750 volunteers have signed up so far. <\/p>\n

Of all trash collected, cigarette butts, at 14,618, ranks first on the type of trash collected on the island. This mirrors the international scene, as it also ranks first, at 5.7 million cigarette butts collected worldwide last year. Next to cigarette butts, in the CNMI, are microplastics\u2014plastic pieces less than 2.5 cm. <\/p>\n

Youth volunteer group Saipan Cleanup is on a mission to clean the beaches of Saipan one hike at a time. Formed in March, they were appalled at the amount of trash they saw on the beach, decided to take action, and are now a big inspiration to many in the community. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs a coastal community, we experience first-hand the effects and impacts of marine debris. Marine debris, specifically plastic, never fully biodegrades. Instead, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces until it becomes microplastic,\u201d Flores said.<\/p>\n

Microplastics have adverse effects on humans as they move through the marine food chain. Local livelihood, the economy, and culture depend so much on the environment that everyone must come together to fight ocean pollution in the CNMI, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe International Coastal Cleanup is a perfect opportunity for our community members to take action. \u2026Individuals looking to join the ICC can meet the [Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality] team on Saturday at 8am, as we clean the shores of Tank Beach, Kagman,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Youth take charge<\/strong>
\nAt last year\u2019s ICC, the CNMI had 1,617 volunteers cleaning up 76 locations, and collected 9,427 lbs of trash. <\/p>\n

Saipan had 884 volunteers who cleaned up 47 locations and collected 5,820 lbs; Rota had 646 volunteers who cleaned up 18 sites and collected 2,542 lbs; and Rota had 87 volunteers who cleaned up 11 sites, and collected 1,065 lbs of trash.<\/p>\n

Yet many in the community have been environmentally-proactive, cleaning up the islands even beyond the September ICC date. Among them is a group of young hikers taking charge, cleaning beaches one hike at a time, and they call themselves \u201cSaipan Cleanup.\u201d They are Grace Choi, Louisa Han, Tahj Salas, Dylan Mister, Abbas Shakir, Tonyboy Tenorio, and Logan Mister. Their group was formed last year in March, on a hike out to the little pocket beaches in Dandan, after being appalled by the amount of trash on each beach, and knowing that it was heavily affecting marine life, especially after finding a dead shark on the beach on that same hike. To inspire people to pick trash up, the group set up their own page on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Mister said that picking up the trash \u201callows the trash to end up somewhere that isn\u2019t a fish or marine creatures\u2019 stomach,\u201d among many other benefits. He added that there are about 30 volunteers who help out when they can, and that their numbers are steadily growing. <\/p>\n

Over a thousand volunteers came together to pick up trash at different locations in the CNMI to join the global community in the International Coastal Cleanup celebration last year. (Iva Maurin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe thought cleanups were a good simple way we could make an impact. \u2026We continue doing it because \u2018why not?\u2019 but personally, as a kid, the ocean had always brought so much to me, I figured it was time to give back to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As for the kinds of waste they collect, Mister said that the main trash they collect are marine debris but that there are always trash from people who go to the beach. He said batteries are very common in Dandan, which they assume are from night fishers. <\/p>\n

\u201cOther places around the island are heavily littered with [beer cans]. It\u2019s such a shame that people aren\u2019t responsible to pick up after themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Saipan Cleanup, the greatest solution to the trash problem is to reduce plastic use. \u201cReusing your plastic is also a great way to conserve. \u2026Little things like not taking a plastic bag at the grocery store makes the biggest difference if everyone were to do it,\u201d Mister added.<\/p>\n

The young environmentalists also envision a recycling center that would pay citizens to recycle, a small incentive that could change the overall outlook regarding trash on island, and that could encourage people to responsibly manage trash.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all need to work together to dig ourselves out of the hole we have dug,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026Be responsible and respect our islands for their natural beauty. Don\u2019t leave any trash anywhere, and if you ever go somewhere try to pick up one or two pieces of trash. If we all work together Saipan could be trash free.\u201d <\/p>\n

Young people make up a fraction of the island\u2019s population, but they make up the entirety of the CNMI\u2019s future. They will be tomorrow\u2019s teachers, physicians, environmentalists, officials, farmers, fishermen, everything\u2026 and it is to the CNMI\u2019s good that they are already taking charge right now.<\/p>\n

These words from a young environmentalist could never have been more true. So, it\u2019s a date, let us all volunteer this Saturday for the International Coastal Cleanup and help cleanup. After all, no human would ever want to live on an island full of trash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A perfect weekend would be going to the beach to swim and have a picnic….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":329921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}