SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Supermalls, together with SM Prime Holdings Inc., once again gathered a massive haul of trash and marine debris at this year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day at SM By the Bay and at multiple SM Malls across the country last Sept. 16, 2023.

A total of 15 SM malls in the country were included in the expansion of the campaign, which enabled more volunteers and employees to join the cleanup drive to help safeguard the marine environment and its resources. About 29,272 kilograms of trash in five SM malls were collected during the cleanup day.

Since 2015, SM had committed to support the International Coastal Cleanup Day every September and mounted several cleanup drives throughout the year. Its last cleanup this June was in celebration of the World Environment Day and World Oceans Day. Certain SM malls had also conducted cleanup drives twice a month.

The coastal cleanup drive was one of the projects by SM Cares and leading real estate developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. to support the marine environment and ocean conservation efforts of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.