The Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) Kuching and UCSI University Sarawak Campus successfully organised a Beach Clean-up at the Damai Central area on 26 October, 2019. There was a total of 43 students, RCE Kuching Youth Ambassadors and four staff from Student Affairs who took part in this event.

This event was initiated by Reef Check Malaysia, an organisation committed to protecting and conserving the coral reefs of Malaysia.  It was a nationwide programme in conjunction with the International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) Day.

Besides cleaning along the Damai Central Beach, which is one of the famous tourism spots in Kuching, the objectives of the event were to engage the students and the RCE Kuching Youth Ambassadors in implementing the SDGs. The types of trash collected were recorded for coastal conversation initiatives.  This event also aimed at increasing civic awareness amongst UCSI students and Youth Ambassadors on the importance of clean coasts to the entire marine ecosystem, linking it to RCE Kuching’s programme of “River for Everybody”, which also has a 5R programme aiming at controlling the waste in land sources.

This Beach Clean-Up event was in line with the goals of RCE Kuching as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely Goal 4 (Quality Education); Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); Goal 13 (Climate Action) and Goal 14 (Life Below Water).

During the clean-up process, the volunteers managed to collect a total of 58 kgs of trash. The recorded main items were plastic bottles, cigarette butts and food wrappers. From the trash data records, to the surprise of many volunteers, there were more than 400 cigarette butts collected on that morning. Besides cigarette butts, there were lots of straws, plastic bottles, aluminium drinks cans and even food wrappers around the area. This has educated the volunteers and raised awareness amongst volunteers about trash issues at the beach and hopefully will motivate more actions from the public and other agencies to protect our beaches.

“Little steps can create a big change, small actions can make a huge difference to our society”. The volunteers were grateful that they could participate in this meaningful event. The Damai Central (Damai Craftsworld and Event Centre) management also praised our volunteers on their commitment and continuous awareness to educate our society to be more responsible global citizens. Thank you to Miracle Spectrum Sdn Bhd for sponsoring us the biodegradable bags.  Thanks to all students and youth ambassadors as volunteers who participated in this beach clean-up event.

For more photos on this event, visit the gallery page of RCE Kuching at https://rce.ucsiuniversity.edu.my/photo-gallery-2/ and our Facebook Page “RCE Kuching” at: https://www.facebook.com/RCEKuchingUCSI/