{"id":83764,"date":"2026-07-27T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/?p=83764"},"modified":"2026-07-30T17:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:52:25","slug":"a-riverside-cleanup-to-end-the-plastic-tide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/story\/83764\/a-riverside-cleanup-to-end-the-plastic-tide\/","title":{"rendered":"A riverside cleanup to end the plastic tide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On the 18th of July, Greenpeace Malaysia and Kebun-kebun Sungai Klang (KKSK) organised a riverside clean-up activity in Klang Valley to mark Plastic-Free July. This event gathered Greenpeace and KKSK supporters and volunteers bright and early to support a local green space in the Klang River Gardens, Camp Water, in their effort to preserve\u00a0third spaces and rehabilitate the surrounding environment.\u00a0The space was incredible, a hidden\u00a0gem next to the Klang River in a populated urbanscape. In just three hours, we uncovered an ugly truth that unfortunately shares the same fate everywhere else.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

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The team were delegated different tasks (collection, sorting, audit) that supported a plastic brand audit, contributing to citizen science. This was to guide us to understand how to hold corporations accountable, identify top polluters, and drive systemic packaging changes. It transforms routine waste cleanup into measurable data tracking and an awareness movement to curb the tide of the plastic crisis. The team did research into local brands and major fast-moving consumer goods brands, supported by the resources and template developed by #BreakFreeFromPlastic before conducting our very first plastic brand audit. <\/p>\n\n

These were the results of the TOP 10 brands recorded:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Most importantly, this clean-up initiative would not be possible without the people who showed up; they are, put simply, extraordinary people, just like you and me – advocating for a safe, clean and healthy environment. This was no simple feat because what began as a seemingly straightforward clean-up turned into a true test of resilience, as we uncovered layers of buried waste beneath the ground. The conditions were brutal, with overwhelming odours, swarms of insects, and worms at the site pushing everyone to their limits, with some volunteers involuntarily vomiting and others needing to step away. It was Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

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Yet it was in these harshest moments that the spirit of the team shone brightest: volunteers who had vomited from the smell returned, determined to keep helping. The sorting and auditing teams relentlessly went through heaps, and heaps, and heaps, and heaps, and heaps (you’ll get the idea) of waste collected from the site. But by documenting what we found, we were actively doing more than removing litter! It was a form of building evidence that can inform better design, policies, and habits that keep waste out of nature in the first place.<\/p>\n\n

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These were the quiet acts of courage and strength that lifted everyone’s spirits. Every hand stayed on the ground, working, sweating, and pushing through together, a true moment of environmental protection and people’s power. I am not exaggerating when I point out the claims that some of us are having phobias seeing a certain you-know-what brand now.

We ended the our labour of love with a sharing session by Greenpeace Malaysia’s Zero Waste campaigner (me!) on our efforts to combat plastic pollution and the need to demand strong corporate accountability, actions and mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR).

To every volunteer and supporter who showed up, got dirty, and refused to give up, thank you. Your resilience, teamwork, and heart turned an incredibly difficult day into a powerful example of what people can achieve together.<\/p>\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLet\u2019s end the age of plastic!\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

We have a rare chance to turn the tide on plastic. Add your name before the final Global Plastics Treaty talks this August.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Sign Petition\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 18th of July, Greenpeace Malaysia organised a riverside clean-up activity in the Klang Valley region in conjunction with Plastic-Free July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":83767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,130],"tags":[22,74],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-83764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-and-activism","category-green-future","tag-plastics","tag-events","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83764"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83786,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83764\/revisions\/83786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83764"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=83764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}