25th International Coastal Clean Up Singapore
The Cub Scouts, Scouts and Leaders from the Colugo Scout Group participated in the 25th International Coast Clean Up Singapore event on 17 Sep 2016. As an individual (as with many of the young people), this was my first time doing a coastal cleanup. We were assigned a remote part of Changi Beach and though it was "remote", it was amazing to see the amount of trash and rubbish that we collected. Much of this was washed in by the tides while the rest was litter left behind by beachgoers. By the end of the event, we had collected 264.54 kg of waste which we had catalogued by type.
As an individual, I had a first hand experience of the impact that waste has on the environment. In our daily lives, we are shielded from this as the cleaners do such a good job of cleaning up the environment before we leave our homes in the morning. We need to learn to "reduce, reuse and recycle" more so as to reduce waste.
For many of the young people, this was also the first time that they were performing a community service and their first time "giving back to the community". This is an important step in inculcating and internalizing the idea of service to others as envisaged in the Scout Promise.
The logistics for this event were well organized as the lead organizer had prior experience. The group plans to take part in the 2017 event, this time with the older scouts taking an active part in planning and organizing the event.