Environmental activists pluck plastic from world's beaches on mass cleanup day

Yahoo – AFP, 21 September 2019

Volunteers in Manila scoop up coastal trash as part of the World Cleanup
Day initiative

Thousands of volunteers wielding nets and bin bags scoured coasts, parks and riverbanks across the globe Saturday, in a litter-picking drive highlighting the vast quantity of trash dumped worldwide, a day after mass international climate protests.

Campaigners took part in World Cleanup Day from Manila to the Mediterranean, as hundreds of thousands of people across the world take part in demonstrations and activities calling for urgent action on the environment.

Young people have been at the forefront of the movement, with masses of children skipping school on Friday for a global climate strike, which teen activist Greta Thunberg said was "only the beginning".

Some four million people filled city streets around the world on Friday, organisers said, in what was billed as the biggest ever protest against the threat posed to the planet by rising temperatures.

Greta Thunberg, pictured in September 2018, began her climate school strike 

outside the Swedish parliament last year

It kicked off a week of climate action called for by Thunberg, who was among several hundred young activists attending a climate summit at the United Nations on Saturday.

The World Cleanup Day on Saturday is an initiative that has got millions into the streets and cleaning up litter across the globe since it began just over a decade ago.

In France, volunteers posted images of their trash hauls on social media -- heaps of assorted waste, soft drink cans and plastic containers.

A climate protest on the streets of Paris attracted some 15,000 people, according to a tally by independent consultancy Occurrence, but the rally was marred by clashes between security forces and a relatively small number of troublemakers.

"The conditions for a non-violent march are not in place," Greenpeace, a co-organiser of the event, said on Twitter, as police fired teargas at protesters.

Hundreds of thousands of young people have since mobilised - these demonstrators 

were out in Kiev on Friday

'For us to help'

While the types of trash collected varied, the common material in the bin bags across the planet was plastic, amid surging concerns over the environmental costs of single use items and microplastics in world waterways.

Plastic pollution is a major problem across Southeast Asia, but particularly in the Philippines, which -- along with China, Vietnam and Indonesia -- is frequently listed among the world's worst offenders.

In the Philippine capital, some 10,000 people swept across a long stretch of beach on heavily polluted Manila Bay, clutching sacks they filled with rubbish.

"It's for us to help the environment, especially here in Manila, there's a lot of garbage," Mae Angela Areglado, a 20-year-old student told AFP as she pitched in with the cleanup -- held right next to the city's huge Baseco slum.

Thousands turned out in Philippines to scour heavily polluted Manila Bay for trash

"(Plastic is) affecting the marine life because they think that it is food," she added.

In the Pacific island nation of Fiji, which is among the countries worst affected by sea level rises and has become a vocal advocate for global climate action, people scoured palm-fringed beaches west of the capital Suva, heaving discarded car tyres and engine parts from the coast.

On Australia's Bondi beach activists sifted through the sand, carting off bits of plastic and cigarette butts.

Youth leading way

The mass cleanup is coordinated by the Let's Do It Foundation, which began life in Estonia and says that 18 million people from 157 countries participated in the global cleanup day last year. This year, it says more than 160 countries are taking part.

A climate protest in Paris was marred by clashes between security forces 

and a relatively small number of troublemakers

"Garbage is a global problem and it affects all the people in the world. It knows no state borders," said the organisation's president Heidi Solba in a statement.

The group said about 30,000 people are participating in Estonia on Saturday in a drive focusing on small litter like bottle tops and cigarette butts.

Mart Normet, leader of the initiative in Estonia, said he drew hope from the enthusiasm of young people.

"When I look at the new photos on Facebook, I can see that the new generation is bringing a completely new attitude. Littering and damaging consumption are a thing of the past," he said.

Seventy-nine percent of the plastic ever made has ended up dumped according 

to a UN report from 2018

In Vietnam's capital Hanoi, around 1,400 volunteers went searching for litter under the scorching sun.

"Although our actions are very small -- like cleaning trash from the sidewalk -- it could spread a meaningful message," 18-year-old Hoang Thi Hoan told AFP, as motorists zipped by on a busy street.

Friday's strike organisers 350.org said the youth-led rallies were the start of 5,800 protests across 163 countries over the next week.

UN chief Antonio Guterres met young activists in New York on Saturday, telling them: "There is a change in momentum... due to your initiative and to the courage, with which you have started these movements."

Friday's climate strike was billed as the biggest ever protest against the threat 

posed to the planet by rising temperatures

A landmark UN report to be unveiled next week will warn global warming and pollution are ravaging Earth's oceans and icy regions in ways that could unleash misery on a global scale.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in August that the level of microplastics in drinking-water is not yet dangerous for humans but called for more research into potential future risk and a reduction in plastic waste.

Seventy-nine percent of the plastic ever made has ended up dumped, with little reused or destroyed despite recycling and other initiatives to curb use, a UN report from 2018 said.

Nepal attempts record with a Dead Sea of plastic bags

Yahoo – AFP, December 5, 2018

Over 150 volunteers worked for months to collect and sort used plastic bags
from schools and public areas in Nepal (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Kathmandu (AFP) - Young Nepalis created a map of the Dead Sea with used plastic bags Wednesday in a bid to set a new international record and raise awareness about the vast volumes polluting the world's oceans.

Volunteers tied 100,000 colourful used plastic bags on a metal grid 20 metres (65 feet) long and five metres (16 feet) tall, shaped like the Dead Sea, on open ground in Kathmandu's city centre.

The record attempt was organised with a slogan "One Dead Sea is enough for us".

"We decided to tie plastic bags and make a sculpture of the Dead Sea to spread awareness over the world to minimise waste of plastic," Surgeon BC of Stem Foundation Nepal, the group that organised the event, told AFP.

Global plastic production has grown rapidly, and is currently more than 400 million tonnes per year.

It is estimated that two to five percent of plastics wind up in the oceans, where much of it breaks down into tiny particles that harm marine life.

"We hope this effort will help to keep seas clean and not let them become another dead sea," he said.

Over 150 volunteers worked for months to collect and sort used plastic bags from schools and public areas.

Among the participants was 20-year-old environment student Prakriti Pandey.

"I had heard news that plastic was found inside a dead whale, so I felt I should join this initiative to spread awareness around the world and in my country," she said.

The current record for the world's largest sculpture of plastic bags was set in April 2012 when over 200 Singaporean volunteers shaped 68,000 plastic bags in the shape of an octopus, according to Guinness World Records.

The Nepalese group said it will now submit its claim with video evidence for a new record to Guinness.

All 12 boys and coach rescued from Thai cave

Yahoo – AFP, July 10, 2018

The escape route was challenge for even experienced divers (AFP Photo/
YE AUNG THU)

Mae Sai (Thailand) (AFP) - The final five members of a young football team were rescued from a flooded Thai cave on Tuesday after spending 18 harrowing days trapped deep inside, completing an astonishing against-the-odds rescue mission that captivated the world.

Elite foreign divers and Thai Navy SEALs extracted the final batch of four boys, plus the 25-year-old coach, on Tuesday afternoon via a treacherous escape route that required them to squeeze through narrow, water-filled tunnels in darkness.

"All 12 'Wild Boars' and coach have been extracted from the cave," the SEALs said in a Facebook post, referring to the boys by the name of their football team.

"All are safe," they added, then signed off with what has become their trademark "Hooyah" that they used to celebrate the successful extractions of the other eight boys over the previous two days.

The last four Thai navy divers, including a doctor, who had been with the boys emerged safe from the cave late Tuesday, rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said.

The children, aged from 11 to 16, and their coach, ventured into the Tham Luang cave in mountainous northern Thailand on June 23 after football practice and got trapped when heavy rains caused flooding that forced them to take shelter on a muddy ledge.

They spent nine days in darkness until two British divers found them, looking gaunt but offering smiles to the divers and appearing to be in remarkably good spirits.

The initial euphoria at finding them dissipated as authorities struggled to devise a safe plan to get them out, with the shelf more than four kilometres (2.5 miles) inside the cave and the labyrinth of tunnels leading to them filled with water.

Diagram of how divers are carrying out a rescue of the 12 Thai boys and their 

football coach who were trapped in a cave on June 23 (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)

Impossible to Possible

Authorities mulled ideas such as drilling holes into the mountain or waiting months until monsoon rains ended and they could walk out, with the rescue chief at one point dubbing the efforts to save them "Mission Impossible".

With oxygen levels in their chamber falling to dangerous levels and monsoon rains threatening to flood the cave above the ledge where the boys were sheltering, rescuers decided on the least-worst option of having divers escort them out through the tunnels.

The escape route was a challenge even for experts -- a former Thai Navy SEAL diver died when he ran out of oxygen in a flooded area of the cave on Friday while trying to prepare the escape route.

Many of the boys could not even swim and none of them had diving experience, so the rescuers trained them how to use a mask and breathe underwater via an oxygen tank.

The rescue chief, after the success of the daring mission, revised his description of the efforts to "Mission Possible".

One fear had been that the boys would panic while trying to swim underwater, even with a diver escorting them.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha revealed on Tuesday the boys had been given some medication to help them remain calm.

"It was a minor tranquiliser to prevent (the) boys from being anxious," Prayut told reporters.

The ups and downs of the rescue bid entranced Thailand and also fixated a global audience, drawing support from celebrities as varied as US President Donald Trump, football star Lionel Messi and tech guru Elon Musk.

"On behalf of the United States, congratulations to the Thai Navy SEALs and all on the successful rescue of the 12 boys and their coach from the treacherous cave in Thailand," Trump tweeted. "Such a beautiful moment - all freed, great job!"

Manchester United also invited the "Wild Boars", as well as those involved in the rescue, to travel to England and visit the club.

The escape route was challenge for even experienced divers (AFP Photo/YE AUNG THU)

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected. We would love to welcome the team from Wild Boars Football Club and their rescuers to Old Trafford this coming season," the club said in tweet.

Health concerns

Now they are out, concerns are set to focus on the physical and mental toll of the ordeal.

Experts warned that drinking contaminated water or otherwise being exposed to bird or bat droppings in the cave could lead to dangerous infections.

They also said counselling would be needed to deal with the psychological trauma of spending so long not knowing whether they were going to survive.

But there were some promising initial signs.

Medical chiefs reported on Tuesday morning that the eight boys rescued on Sunday and Monday were in relatively good mental and physical conditions.

"All eight are in good health, no fever... everyone is in a good mental state," Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk, permanent secretary of the public health ministry, said before all 13 had been rescued.

Nevertheless, the boys would remain in quarantine in hospital until doctors were sure they had not contracted any infections from inside the cave.

Eight rescued from Thai cave, but five remain trapped

Yahoo – AFP, Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI, Richard SARGENT, July 9, 2018

Thai soldiers walk out from the Tham Luang cave area as operations continue
for the 8 boys and their coach trapped inside (AFP Photo/YE AUNG THU)

Elite divers hauled four more young footballers out of a flooded Thai cave on Monday, authorities said, bringing to eight the number saved in a stunning rescue mission but still leaving five others trapped.

"Hooyah," the Thai Navy SEALs, who have played a crucial role in the against-the-odds operation, said in a Facebook post as they announced that a total of eight members of the "Wild Boars" football team had been rescued on Sunday and Monday.

Thais have been fixated on the crisis, hoping desperately for the safe return of the 12 boys and their 25-year-old football coach, after they ventured into the Tham Luang cave complex after practice and became trapped by rising waters more than a fortnight ago.

The extraction of the four on Monday followed a similar pattern to the previous day, with the youngsters emerging in quick succession just before nightfall after navigating a treacherous escape route of more than four kilometres (2.5 miles) that included extremely narrow and flooded tunnels.

Although the rescued eight were all presumed to be the boys, aged between 11 and 16, authorities did not reveal their identities nor confirm whether the coach remained inside the cave.

Asked if the remaining five would be shuttled out together, rescue operations chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said it was up to the divers whose meticulous plans, including stashing extra oxygen tanks along the route, are "set for four people, if we bring five we have to change the plan".

In a late-night press conference he also delivered a message from Thai premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a gruff former general:

"The Prime Minister wants this to be a lesson, this should not happen again in Thailand," Narongsak said.

The saga has dominated global headlines, with the team spending nine days unaccounted for inside the cave, before British divers found them -- emaciated and dishevelled -- huddling on a muddy bank above the flooding.

Diagram of the Tham Luang cave and facts on the operation to free a trapped 

football team. (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)

Authorities then struggled to determine the best way to save the "Wild Boars", with the group stuck on a shelf above the floodwaters in pitch darkness.

Among the ideas were drilling an escape route through the mountain, or leaving them for months until the monsoon season ended and the flooding subsided.

But with oxygen levels inside dropping to dangerous lows and the prospect of heavy rains flooding the area completely, authorities decided they had to move quickly and take the group out through the water-filled tunnels.

Deadly dangers

Narongsak described Sunday's initial rescue bid as "D-Day" when it was launched, and there were fears that any one of many potential pitfalls could prove deadly.

Among these were that none of the boys had scuba diving experience, and that they could easily panic while swimming underwater across twisted passageways in darkness.

Dozens of foreign divers and other experts from around the world were brought in to help the rescue effort, working alongside the Thai Navy SEALs.

But the death of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who ran out of oxygen in the cave on Friday underscored the danger of the journey.

The first successes on Sunday offered hope of a fairytale ending to the ordeal.

Rescue chief Narongsak on Sunday described their journey out, escorted by the elite divers, as "smooth".

A man offers food to Buddhist monks near the hospital where the boys rescued 

after being trapped in a nearby cave for nearly two weeks have been brought 

for observation (AFP Photo/TANG CHHIN Sothy)

Crucially, round-the-clock pumping to ease some of the flooding paid off and threatened heavy rains did not arrive.

That led an upbeat Narongsak to promise more "good news" on Monday afternoon that materialised a few hours later with the emergence of the other four.

But although the eight were rescued, there were concerns they may have contracted an illness while in the cave.

Narongsak said after the first four boys were rescued that they would be quarantined "for a while because we are concerned about infections".

And rain could still re-emerge as a threat for the remaining five, particularly if there are complications that could delay the extraction further.

Authorities have repeatedly said the rain could re-flood crucial parts of the cave complex that have been drained and make the escape route much harder or even impossible to navigate.

Weather forecasters warned heavy rain could hit the area through the week.

Premier Prayut visited the rescue base on Monday night to deliver his congratulations to all those involved, but also to offer a note of caution.

"Everyone should be proud. (But) the mission is not over yet," Prayut said.