LOCAL environmental groups, school pupils, North Durban Honorary Officers and a number of residents were among the thousands to don a pair of kitchen gloves and fill garbage bags on Saturday, all in an effort to support International Coastal Clean-up Day. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the clean-up, with people heading to beaches, rivers and estuaries and begin removing debris and rubbish from shorelines, waterways and oceans.

Volunteers picked up everything imaginable along the shorelines, from cigarette butts to food wrappers to abandoned fishing gear to polystyrene and plastic bags, providing a mini snapshot of the marine debris littering our coasts and waterways.

Durban North resident and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife community conservation officer, Wayne Munger, said more than 1 500 locals volunteered their time to clean up the Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve.

“It was fantastic seeing so many people come out and support the event despite the wet weather. For the past 19 years we’ve had vast volumes of people help out, which shows how many people care about the environment and our oceans. Around 70 per cent of what we have collected has been plastic related. This clean-up helps to raise awareness of what sorts of items are polluting the shores,” he said.