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Besides the usual scattered plastics beach cleanups can yield surprising junk, as MP Louis Ng discovered yesterday.
A beach cleanup on Seletar Island on Sunday (April 25) attended by Ng, as well as Nee Soon MPs K. Shanmugam, Carrie Tan, Derrick Goh and Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, turned up a unique find — an air-con unit.
The cleanup had commenced that morning and before noon, the team, which included several other volunteers, had already collected a whopping 381kg of trash. Ng posted on Facebook that the haul included "lots and lots of plastic, styrofoam, nets, ropes, toys and YES an aircon".
Images he posted of the cleanup effort showed plush toys and plastics. And in one, Ng is seen holding a ball and part of a large air-con unit.
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This is not the first time Ng has found unusual items on a cleanup.
On April 12, the 42-year-old shared on Facebook that he had come across a plastic chair while picking up trash at Khatib Bongsu Nature Park.
But you might be surprised to find out that these unusual items aren't actually his most chilling finds.
Writing about a cleanup on Seletar Island that took place on March 28, he said, "But beyond the big pieces of trash we picked up today, it is the small pieces of plastic scattered all over the beach that scares me the most.
"They have probably been here for years."
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According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, plastic pollution is detrimental to marine species as they ingest or get trapped in it.
Invisible plastics found in the ocean are also said to pose health issues for humans and animals.