Nearly 300 International Cleanup Events took place across Asia Pacific to help make clean waters a reality. Let the 2007 International Cleanup Day stories inspire you...
Over 300 participants and still counting 4,325kg of trash
Sea Explorers and Siquijor Dive Safaris, Siquijor Island, Philippines
 It was an unforgettable day for over 300 people on the small magical island of Siquijor. Community spirit was overwhelming thanks to Cleanup coordinator Ronald van de Vooren who said, “it was the greatest event ever to happen at the Siquijor Pier, the team work, enthusiasm, motivation and hard work of everybody cannot be described in words.” The thought of winning a famous Sea Explorers tee-shirt certainly inspired the divers and locals to collect an amazing 4,325kg of trash. The winning team collected a staggering 1,442kg and were awarded certificates by the Honorable Provincial Governor Orlando A Fua Jr who was delighted to close the days activities thanking everyone for their fantastic efforts.
Beer Bottles, Squid Jags and Fishing Lines
Underwater Sports Diving, Adelaide, Australia
Beer bottles, squid jags and fishing lines were amongst the rubbish pulled out from under a jetty in Adelaide where 15 divers and 5 shoreline volunteers enjoyed a sausage sizzle to raise funds for Project AWARE. “I had a young lady of 9 years of age help me all day and she swore to me she hadn’t ever littered and never ever would! If we can get to the youth of today that’s the way to go” said organizer Carly Gladwell.
Environmental Awareness for Divemasters
Easydivers, Thailand
 Hundreds of rabbit fish and fusiliers caught in an abandoned fish trap were freed to enjoy the delights of Anthong National Marine Park, Koh Samui. The fish were discovered along with 250kg of rubbish by 25 enthusiastic Easydivers. “I have decided to integrate a cleanup into all our Divemaster courses,” said PADI Course Director, Marita Fassbender. “I hope this will increase environmental awareness for our future trainees’ she added.
Auction Raises Much Needed Funds
 Mermaids Dive Centre, Koh Sak, Pattaya, Thailand
“We had a fantastic clean up this month with 2 boats and 60 volunteers taking part in the event at Koh Sak” said Sue Horwoods of Mermaids. The team collected 730kg of debris and raised funds by holding a raffle. Prizes that were won but not wanted were auctioned to raise even more.. A big thanks to Sue whose dedication and commitment to the preservation of her local aquatic environment inspires so many people to get involved.
Mooring Buoys to Protect Reef
B&J Diving Centre, Tioman Island, Malaysia
 Mooring buoys at Tiger Reef and Magicienne Rock are a welcome addition to Tioman Island, Malaysia where B&J Diving collected thousands of Crown of Thorn Starfish as part of their cleanup. Local school children enjoyed a educational trip to Coral Island with environmental talks by marine biologists. A big thanks to Coordinator Martin Ritter, he organised a bbq and gave a donation to Project AWARE for each diver involved.
Speed cleaners
Scuba Dynamics, Malaysia
 Volunteers collected an amazing 103kg of litter from the ‘house reef’ and shore line of Sabang Beach in just 30 minutes. The Scuba Dynamic Team partnered with Mermaid Resort, Puerto Galera, the Philippines to make a bigger splash for trash.
A Peddle in the Ocean
Sipadan Scuba, Sibuan Island, Malaysian Borneo
 A children’s bicycle peddled its way to top place in the list of most unusual rubbish collected on the small island of Sibuan, off the coast of Sabah. “It was an odd find on an impoverished island with no paved surfaces,” said organiser Tom West. Tom and his dedicated team inspired over 100 people to help clean up more than 350kgs of rubbish from Tun Sakaran Marine Park. He provided a free Project AWARE specialty presentation for volunteers and organised educational activities for over 60 children and the village chief. Tom’s tip for successful cleanups is collaborative conservation – he engaged support from local organisations, villagers and the army.
Truckload of Trash
World Diving Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia
 200 kg of rubbish were plucked from the reef by 18 divers whilst 140 volunteers cleared a truckload of trash from 2 km of beach. After the cleanup volunteers enjoyed cold drinks and “nasi bungkus” at Scooby Doos and money raised at the raffle will provide rubbish bins for the beach to encourage everyone to keep the island clean. “The small island of Nusa Lembongan, 14 miles off the south coast of Bali showed the big world how much can be accomplished in one afternoon when people work together,” said John Chapman of World Diving Lembongan.
Splash Gordan, New Zealand
 Fantastic weather in Wellington ensured lots of people were out to take an interest in the Lagoon clean up. “Most people stopped to ask questions and show their kids what we were doing and why which was fantastic,” said Lisa Geismar of Splash Gordan. Divers tucked into a well earned BBQ and raised $200 for Project AWARE.
Why not share your story or let us know in a few words what you thought of Cleanup day and why it matters to you.
What you said about Cleanup Day
“We had a great day and there was a real feel good factor all weekend! Here’s to the next one - this event just grows and grows every year!” Sara Ibison AB Ocean Divers cleaned up at Flinders Pier, Melbourne, Australia.
“The Rainbow Dive Team practice a “clean-as-you-go” policy at each of the 5 dive centres throughout the year, so as a result the organized clean ups do not always record large amounts of debris. However, Rainbow Divers are always happy to help and support any effort to spread the message of coral reef conservation and focused events like the Project AWARE Clean-ups are seen as an invaluable way of achieving this objective.” Graham Lee Rainbow Divers, Vietnam
“It was such a great success….so many volunteers…unbelievable…… and so much trash….” Sabine, The Dive Centre, Rarotonga
“The resort was proud that 10 newly certified Open Water Divers took part in the Cleanup Event and logged their first fun dives on that day. We would also like to thank our guests who took part on International Cleanup Day, we are looking forward to next year already.” The Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort and Spa, Thailand.
“Before the cleanup one of my fellow organizers asked, “Do you think there is going to be enough rubbish to collect?” And we jokingly said that we might need to intentionally place some rubbish for the participants to collect! We were so wrong. From just a small stretch of beach we collected so much rubbish that we almost ran out of trash bags. It wasn’t just cleaning work it was also fun, as each team competed to collect all sorts of odd items. We got wet, we got dirty but we were happy that we did our small part.” Lee Hee Koon, Deep Blue Scuba, Pulau Dayang, Malaysia
“We will conduct beach cleanups more often" said Ricky Koh of Deep Blue Scuba, Singapore, “as I tell my crew its our ‘playground’ who else will take care of it?”
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