Nestlé Lanka celebrated World Environment Day 2018 in collaboration with the undergraduates of University of Kelaniya, Department of Marketing Management. A team of volunteers successfully completed a beach cleaning campaign at Crow Island Beach on June 05th, 2018.

Being an island nation, coastline protection plays a vital role of the environmental well-being in Sri Lanka.  The crow island beach, along with other coastal areas, are becoming a garbage dump at an alarming rate, making Sri Lanka the fifth worst ocean polluter in the world. High pollution levels are increasingly threatening marine life with marine life becoming exposed to hazardous pollutants such as polythene.

Thus, understanding the corporate responsibility, Nestlé took the initiative in solving the environmental issues caused due to garbage disposal and pollution. With the purpose of making beaches healthier and safe for all marine life, Nestlé collaborated with the young marketers from University of Kelaniya as engaging in environmental protection not only creates direct impact on changing youth behaviours and attitudes, but possibly influence the community they involve in.

The beach cleaning programme was initiated with the participation of the youth as an effort to see a clean coastal belt around the country.  At the beginning the beach was loaded with plastic containers, empty bottles, polythene bags, broken glasses, clothes and hundreds of items that had washed up on the shore. This issue is further escalated as the waves continuously brings endless mounds of garbage that float from the Kelani River and disperse throughout the beach. The litter dumped by beach-goers makes the beach site even more unpleasant.

After getting suited up with the gloves and trash bags, the team set off in groups to collect the litter. The enthusiastic effort and support of the team contributed towards an effective campaign to clean the beach site within a few hours. The team collected trash spread along   the   beach and   segregated the   trash as degradable and non-degradable garbage. At the end of the beach cleaning campaign, the beach regained its scenic view making it scenic and visitor friendly.

It  may  seem convenient  to  dispose  a  plastic  bottle   on  to  the  beach but  if that encourages several others to do the same, undoubtedly the collective result puts a huge / impact on the survival of coastal and ocean ecosystems. In turn if one person inspires change by taking the initiative to protect the environmental resources, it will convince the world that it needs to change towards a meaningful goal. This initiative by Nestlé was also a good exercise in building teamwork and imploring the necessity for every individual to contribute towards coastal and marine  life protection on the world environment day