**Note, there will be no group clean-ups during the Monsoon season (October-December) The next clean-up will be on the 31st of January 2009**

Each month Save Koh Tao and local dive schools team up to help protect and beautify our beaches and reefs through a land and underwater clean-up. You can get involved with these clean-ups by coming to the Marine Branch meetings on the 5th of each month or by joining up with a school already involved. The clean-ups are held on the last day of each month.

Koh Tao Clean-ups 2008 

In 2008, the Marine Branch of Save Koh Tao was successful in organizing 9 land and underwater clean-ups with volunteers from dive schools around the island. The goal of the monthly clean-ups is to protect our reefs from structural damage and improve the appearance of our beaches and dive sites. When tourists and locals were asked in a survey what they thought to be the biggest environmental problem on Koh Tao, the majority (29%) said that rubbish/no recycling was the biggest problem.

Each month we host a clean-up in a different location around the island to increase the effectiveness of our efforts and bring awareness to all of the island villages. About 8-12 dive schools participated in each month’s clean-up, sometimes with more than 150 divers in the water. At the end of each day the rubbish was sorted and weighed in order to gain information about the source and type of rubbish found. By number of items, plastic products are the most abundant (29%), and when compiled by weight ropes and nets make up the majority of the rubbish (50% *weight when wet.) Items such as glass bottles and tires that are not a large threat to the reef are usually left in place to prevent further harm to the reef during removal.

The source of the large items, metals, and electrical appliances seems to be from the fishing and diving boats docked around the island’s bays, as most items were found under the boats. Plastics, foam, and nets could be both locally produced and drifted in from the surrounding areas as these items flow with the currents. In order to combat the problem of rubbish litter, it is important to educate the boat captains and staff about the negative effects of reef damage on their livelihoods. The use of plastics and foam on the island, which seem to be the most ecologically damaging and unattractive, should be decreased in order to reduce the amount being thrown into the island streams and waterways.

In order to be a dive school affiliated with the Save Koh Tao Group, an environmental briefing and recycling program must be instituted by the school to eliminate the chance of rubbish being thrown in the sea. By working with local businesses through our “Reduce Rubbish...No Plastic and Foam” campaign we hope to eliminate the sources of litter. Do your part by picking up rubbish you find and refusing plastic bags and foam with your purchases, instead bring your own bag or reusable containers. If we all do our part we can beautify and protect the island we love and depend on.

Schools involved in 2008 Underwater Clean-ups