More than 330 volunteers, including 130 employees of Coca-Cola Viet Nam in HCM City, cleaned up Thuy Van (Bai Sau) beach in Vung Tau city on 15 September 2007. The volunteers picked up non-biodegradable waste on a 1.5km stretch of coastline.
The event was organized by the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Youth Cultural House as part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) programme aimed to raise global awareness of the damage caused by waste to marine environments. Le Van Khoi, representative of Coca-Cola Southeast Asia Inc., Indochina Region, said: "Apart from spoiling the beautiful image of Viet Nam’s coasts and beaches, waste and debris on the coast can cause severe health problems to local residents and damage marine life, including coral reefs." Later, Coca-Cola employees in Da Nang joined hands with local volunteers to clean Pham Van Dong Beach Park. Coca-Cola has expanded to include Do Son beach in Hai Phong City on 29 September 2007. The ICC, began 22 years ago, is held on the third Saturday of September annually. In Viet Nam, the International Coastal Clean-up campaign was first held on Nha Trang beach in 2000 by the International Marinelife Alliance. Since then, ICC campaigns have been organised in other places across the country, such as Bai Chay beach (Ha Long), Tho Quang beach (Da Nang), and Long Hai beach (Ba Ria-Vung Tau).
