Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - On Saturday, September 17, more than 300 volunteers, including public officials, school students, hotel and restaurant staff and members of the general public, celebrated International Coastal Cleanup Day 2016 by removing two tons of trash from Puerto Vallarta beaches.

Volunteers were met at 8:00 am by members of the Municipal Department of Environment and Ecology, who provided all of the necessary tools for the cleanup (trash bags, gloves, etc.), and led the teams in the cleanup of local beaches - from Boca de Tomates to Boca de Tomatlán.

Environment and Ecology Director Albino Garay de la O noted, "while sanitation work is performed along the municipality's coastline on a monthly basis, with this cleanup we sought to continue generating awareness about the importance of keeping our beaches in good condition; about caring for and protecting the natural wealth of our port to ensure that both locals and visitors can enjoy safe and optimal spaces, which, in turn strengthens tourism."

As mentioned previously, two tons of garbage were collected along the coast on Saturday. Among the volunteers were: Councilwoman Bellanni Fong Patiño, President of the Commission of Ecology; Municipal Sanitation and Ecology personnel; Lifeguards and students from the Regional Preparatory Puerto Vallarta, technical secondary No. 3 and No. 81 and the Decroly school, as well as Civil Engineering students from Centro Universitario de la Costa and CBTis. They were joined by employees of Sam's Club, Starbucks, and various hotels and restaurants located along the beach and boardwalk, who joined in the efforts to clean up their beachfront.

It is worth mentioning that on Wednesday the 14th, in coordination with students and staff Telesecundaria Leona Vicario, the Ecology Department led a cleanup at Boca de Tomatlán, where waste was collected from the banks of the river to the beach, adding another 20 kilograms of trash to this massive cleanup campaign.

The director of the Environment and Ecology stressed that citizen participation in the cleaning of Puerto Vallarta's beaches and rivers is increasing. "More people are realizing that having a 'clean house' gives tourists another reason to visit us, so the response to these activities has been very good. Every time we have one, more companies, schools and associations are getting involved, which means more people are participating in the efforts we are making to keep our beaches clean."