A beach clean-up campaign was conducted on Saturday 7^th January 2023 at the Ananau Causeway and at the coastal areas of Tungaru Central Hospital. The campaign was initiated by the Tungaru Youth Action (TYA), a non-profit organization consisting mainly of youths and is also the first youth led action group in Kiribati.

In support of the campaign, ECD joined the clean-up along with members of other NGOs such as BIMBA, Kiribati Women in Mapping, Mom Uprising, The Possibility Network, Child Fund, and Clean Spatial Solution. The clean-up began with a walkathon from Bonriki International Airport and ended at the ocean side of Tungaru Central Hospital. There were around 40 volunteers in total during the 2-3 hour clean-up, not including community members and children who also joined the clean-up along the beaches behind the Tungaru Central Hospital.

Volunteers of the campaign managed to collect around 300 green bags of wastes ranging from household wastes such as plastic bottles and butane gases, to medical wastes such as syringes and medical containers. From these wastes, 90% were mainly medical wastes from the hospital. The green bags were disposed off at the Bikenibeu landfill with assistance from Clean Spatial Solutions.

ECD thanks TYA for this great initiative and all volunteers who participated in the campaign. ECD also extends its appreciation to other clean-up activities conducted on the same day at Betio and Ambo. These efforts in cleaning up our island contributes much to solving the problems of coastal pollution and is a huge step towards a greener and environment-friendly nation.