Unity Bank Plc has partnered the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC), a non-governmental organisation, to clean up Lagos Kids Beach Garden within the Oba Elegushi beach environs.
The bank’s Head, Brand Marketing and Communications, Mr DeVoe Okorie, said this in a statement on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 in Lagos.
Okorie said the exercise was held in commemoration of the 2021 World Earth Day.
Okorie said that the Lagos beach cleaning was part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility aimed at leading major collaborative initiatives for climate action and environmental sustainability.
He said that recent reports on ocean pollution is a major reason behind the cleanup of the beach.
“Of the over 300 million tonnes of plastic that are produced yearly, an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans.
“There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste estimated to be in our oceans.
“While 70 per cent of our debris sinks into the ocean’s ecosystem, 15 per cent floats, and 15 per cent lands on our beaches.”
He added that such an activity needed more collaboration of organisations to play a vital role in reducing the threats of ocean plastics and the climate risks they posed to the earth.
Okorie said that the employees of the bank, MEDIC and other volunteers who took part in the exercise removed over 50,000 plastic bottles from the beach.
He said that the bank had over time promoted corporate and business philosophy that encouraged low paper usage, recycling and adoption of renewable energy through increased investment in solar-powered branches and ATMs.
By Fabian Ekeruche
