VOLUNTEERS from across the Seprod Group traded their usual Saturday routines for gloves and garbage bags last weekend, joining the GraceKennedy Foundation’s Kingston Harbour Clean-up Project in observance of International Coastal Clean-up Day 2026.

Together, volunteers participating in the clean-up helped remove 8,635.6 pounds of waste — 989.2 pounds of plastic and 7646.4 pounds of general garbage — from Gun Boat Beach and Buccaneer Beach along the Palisadoes.

Observed annually on the third Saturday in September, International Coastal Clean-up Day brings volunteers together to tackle marine litter and draw attention to the impact of improperly discarded waste.

This year’s theme, ‘Sea the Change: Away is a Place,’ served as a reminder that what is thrown “away” ultimately ends up somewhere, often in waterways, along coastlines and in the ocean.

For the Seprod Foundation, supporting the initiative provided another opportunity to turn environmental responsibility into direct action.

“Protecting our environment requires all of us to play a part, and International Coastal Clean-up Day gives our team an opportunity to translate that responsibility into action,” said Lisa D’Oyen, executive director of the Seprod Foundation.

Seprod Group volunteers get to work along the Palisadoes coastline, collecting and separating waste. 

“We are especially proud of our Seprod Group volunteers who gave their time to contribute to this wider effort. The message behind this year’s theme is an important one and the choices we make about waste have consequences for our communities and our environment,” D’Oyen

Beginning early Saturday morning, Seprod Group volunteers worked across the clean-up sites, collecting and separating plastics from general waste before taking filled bags to designated weighing stations.

For Seprod Foundation, the charge extends beyond one day of volunteerism. The foundation is challenging Jamaicans to consider where their waste goes long after it leaves their hands.

For the Seprod Group volunteers on the ground, the experience brought that message into sharper focus.

“It was rewarding to see our colleagues come together for something that affects all of us,” said Rhonde-Gae Clarke, Seprod Group volunteer.

“When you’re actually on the beach collecting and separating the waste, you see first-hand how much ends up in our environment. It makes you think differently about what you throw away and where it eventually goes,” added Clarke.