More than 200 people gathered in the east yesterday to scour a 2km stretch of beach for rubbish. Their haul included discarded plastic bottles, styrofoam cups, fishing line and even wooden pallets.

The clean-up was organised by financial adviser Thomas Peacock-Nazil, who estimated that several thousand kilograms of trash was removed.

He was first struck by how much waste people generate following a visit to Thailand about a year ago.

He remembers suntanning on a pristine beach, only to find it littered with trash that had washed up overnight the next day.

Upon returning to Singapore, the 30-year-old from Britain took the initiative to clean up a beach with his girlfriend.

They have since set up a movement called Seven Clean Seas, which hopes to tackle the problem by cleaning beaches and educating people about the impact of plastic waste on the environment.

Their first beach clean-up was organised last month and drew about 50 people who cleaned up a 700m stretch of beach near Changi.

"The sad thing was, we cleaned it perfectly the first time, but when I went back two weeks later the beach had even more trash than before," said Mr Peacock-Nazil.

He added that most of it looked as though it had been washed up from the sea.

One of those who took part in both clean-ups was 50-year-old sales manager Mark Pain, who said that the first experience opened his eyes to the impact that people had on the environment.

He now is more conscious of what he uses and tries to recycle where he can. "It has totally changed the way I think about things," Mr Pain said.