As part of a global partnership, Coca-Cola Bangladesh in partnership with Ocean Conservancy’s country coordinator Kewkradong Bangladesh are working towards issue of cleaning up oceans and waterways, which face a pollution problem caused by trash.

This partnership is an effort to not only work towards sustainable cleanliness of waterways, but also to drive action and foster innovation to understand the causes of marine debris and working to eliminate ocean trash. The two organisations coordinated a day of cleaning and caring during the 30th annual International Coastal Cleanup, which also marks the 6th year of collaboration, at St. Martin Island, Bangladesh’s only coral island.  

International Coastal Cleanup is the world’s largest volunteer effort, attracting thousands of participants to collect millions of pounds of trash and debris from beaches, lakes and waterways. In the last five years in Bangladesh, 2500 volunteers through the Coca-Coca Bangladesh and Kewradong Bangladesh partnership collected nearly 6000 kilograms of marine debris.

This year Coca-Cola Bangladesh and Kewradong Bangladesh aimed for a person-to-person advocacy strategy with an attempt to reach 6000 tourists and locals. The volunteers included not only traveling volunteers but also local inhabitants along with personnel from local government, Mohammad Habib as a representative of St. Martin’s Island Chairman Noor Mohammad.

Among volunteers, there were 500 students and professionals from various reputed universities and organisations. Since the land-based debris is the prime reason for polluting water and marine environment, the program aimed to advocate for the behavioral change of the dwellers, school students and tourists of St. Martins. Volunteers who have joined this cleanup initiative at St. Martin are expected to play a key role in spreading the message of how to reduce pollution among peers and other networks upon their return.

Coca-Cola launched a pilot programme in 2015 to find sustainable solutions for the collected debris. As a part of this initiative, local government placed more than 150 trash bins provided by Coca-Cola Bangladesh and the collected debris were dumped in special dumping locations.    

While focusing on the commitment of Coca-Cola for a cleaner environment and the significance of choosing St. Martin Island for the activity Shadab Khan, Coca-Cola Bangladesh Managing Director said, ‘St. Martin’s Island’s beauty is unparalleled, and as such the destination attracts a huge number of tourists, which always runs the risk of unbalancing the sensitive ecology. This year, as in the previous five years, we are back with the coastal cleanup initiative, and we have banded together tourists and locals and school students in a drive to educate the tourists and locals alike. Through this initiative, we hope to reaffirm our global commitment to water stewardship, and a greener, cleaner and sustainable environment.’