Yesterday on Sunday 11th April we did our first beach clean of the year! As it's earth month, we rallied up some troops and took to Brighton beach to pick up the litter in a socially-distanced fashion.
Brighton beach
Brighton beach suffers greatly from litter pollution caused by tourists and locals coming down to enjoy the beautiful seaside but leaving their litter on a regular basis. Surfers Against Sewage estimate that 80% of the litter left on Brighton beach is from visitors to the area who do not take their rubbish home. During lockdown the beaches were clear with little to no litter which is how they validated their facts.
This weekend was the last weekend before the pubs reopen and due to the bad weather, the beach was relatively clean in comparison to the week before. Still, there was a lot of smaller litter to collect.
The most collected item was beer bottle caps, followed by napkins and tissues. It is the smaller items that we need to remember to pick up and take back with us when enjoying the seaside as they too harm the environment.
Our volunteers made a conscious effort to separate littler that was recyclable in order to recycle the majority of the litter at the end of the clean.
As lockdown eases up from today onwards, we risk further polluting our beaches and natural areas if we do not take a stand against it.
Join us!
We are committed to carrying out regular beach cleans in Brighton with the help of volunteers. If you are interested in getting involved please contact us via our social media or contact our team member Itzel who is organising the Brighton beach cleans. The next Brighton beach clean will take place the morning of Monday 19th April.
We want to take this opportunity to change behaviours surrounding plastic waste and pollution, and to keep our beaches and natural areas clean and free of plastic.