Did you know that last year 2,412,151 cigarette butts were collected on beaches across the world, of which 516 were collected on a smoke-free beach! As an ex-smoker myself that is horrifying. Cigarette butts are rubbish just like everything else, so why don’t they get thrown away? Why do people think they are biodegradable??
As millions of volunteers across 150 countries celebrated World Cleanup Day, Swiss watch brand, Breitling joined forces with Azraq Middle East here in Dubai, by taking part in a beach cleanup down at Sunset Beach. Partnering with the U.A.E.’s non-profit organisation as well as Ocean Conservancy – a non-governmental organisation dedicated to leading the global fight for a healthy ocean and clean beaches – they joined over 100 community members and Dubai fans early last weekend.
Only 9% of produced plastic is recycled
Not content with just cleaning the beaches, Azraq members joined Divers Down UAE to go diving and snorkeling to help pull litter from the ocean. Don’t worry though, all the litter collected from the beach and ocean was transferred to a recycling centre in Dubai.
50% of plastic currently in use was produced in the last 15 years
World Cleanup Day was born in Estonia, engaging 4% of the Estonian population to clean the country’s waste, in a matter of hours. Countries across the globe were inspired by this movement, bringing rise to a ‘green wave’ of cleanups for beaches, oceans, rivers, streets and forests, which today starts in New Zealand and ends 36 hours later in Hawaii.
