MORE than 100 staff from Sandals and Beaches resorts collected approximately 150 bags of debris from four of the island’s beaches last Saturday in observance of International Coastal Clean-Up Day.

The move was part of the resorts’ ongoing commitment to the environment.

The beaches cleaned were Long Bay Beach in Negril, Westmoreland; Roxborough Beach in St Ann’s Bay, St Ann; Bluefields Bay Fishermen’s Beach in Whitehouse, Westmoreland and the UDC Beach in Montego Bay, St James.

In Negril, more than 30 team members from Sandals Negril, Beaches Negril and the Beaches Sandy Bay resorts donned white branded T-shirts, gloves and caps to cleanup a section of Long Bay Beach. The group collected approximately 20 bags of garbage, including 700 bottles and cans; more than 600 disposable plates and utensils, and several pieces of clothing, household items and building materials.

The St Ann/St Mary region team members from Sandals Dunn’s River, Sandals Grande Ocho Rios and Beaches Boscobel, joined forces with local fishermen and community members to rid the entire Roxborough Beach of debris.

“We are very happy that Sandals and Beaches decided to help clean the beach. We help ourselves and clean the beach sometimes, but it is good that the Sandals team sees it fit to help us,” said a resident, Carl Brown.

Over at Sandals Whitehouse, 35 bags of solid waste were collected from the Bluefields Bay fishermen’s beach by team members, along with volunteers from the Bluefields People Community Association.

Tiffoni Buckle, environmental health and safety manager at Sandals Whitehouse was very impressed with the day’s activities. She said the waste collected represented a decrease in refuse retrieved when compared to last year.

“A clean-up of the same area in 2007 netted approximately 45 bags of waste and this shows that our efforts as a resort in educating persons on environmental issues is taking root. We still have some way to go but the findings are encouraging,” Buckle said.

Meanwhile, team members from Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean resorts, spearheaded the clean-up of the UDC Beach and collected 86 bags of garbage. The team members were joined by representatives of the Montego Bay Community College’s Tourism Action Club, the Montego Bay Marine Park, MBJ Airports Limited, Scotia Bank and Mount Alvernia High School.

The beach clean-up was part of Sandals and Beaches Resorts’ environmental programme, born out of a vision to preserve the natural beauty of the surroundings in close proximity to the properties.

Most recently, the luxury-included resort chain copped the Environmentally Friendly category at the ninth annual 2008 Agent’s Choice Awards in Canada. Additionally, all resorts are Green Globe 21 Certified, which is achieved through sound environmental practices that include staff awareness, the implementation of waste, energy and water management systems and the control of hazardous substances.