On 21st of September, YUNGA Japan was officially launched coinciding with World Cleanup Day 2019. Locals on Awaji Island came together with Awaji Youth Federation to clean up the Iwaya Sun Beach.

The event commenced at exactly 10:15 am with a short welcome and introductory speech about World Clean Up Day, YUNGA activities and its significance. Thereafter, the participants were divided into 5 teams (5-6 members per team). The clean-up activity took place for about 1 hour and 30 minutes; during this time, trash such as plastic bottles, combustible materials, seaweeds, etc. was collected in a designated plastic bag. Two types of bags i.e. combustible and non-combustible were handed out to each group and the “top seven” types of trash found during the cleanup were:

⚫ Food Wrappers ⚫ Pet bottles ⚫ Bottle caps ⚫ Cans ⚫ Slippers ⚫ Ropes ⚫ Plastic bag

The winning team comprising of 6 people collected 7 trash bags and were given medals. Prior to the event, YUNGA Japan team constructed an eco-boat made from disposed pet bottles. This technique popularly originated from a social and environment advocator Mr. Madiba Ismael from Cameroon. The technique was learned in order to demonstrate the possibility of replicating a low-cost solution for social and environmental problems like plastic pollution. The boat was tested on the beach and the feedback was satisfactory from those that experienced it.

At the end of the event, a video interview was taken in Japanese to get feedback from the Japanese participants. In addition to a Japanese interview, an English interview was also taken to get feedback from the English-speaking participants for a global perspective. A group photo was then taken to commemorate the World Clean Up day event.

This global event is the culmination of hard work and dedication from the YUNGA Japan team and local volunteers. We were so happy to see children being part of the cleanup!

We are all part of the solution for a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet.