Twice as much litter fouling area's beaches
THE amount of litter on Britain's beaches has almost doubled in the past 15 years.
A survey by a conservation organisation has found an average of nearly 2,000 pieces of litter on every kilometre of beach.
Plymouth volunteers will be doing their bit to clean up one small beach in the city later this month.
The Plymouth group of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) will be holding a beach clean at Batten Bay, Mount Batten, on Saturday, September 17.
Volunteers will meet at the top of the steps at the beach at 10.30am. Equipment and survey forms will be provided but volunteers participate at their own risk and should wear appropriate clothing and footwear.
The society said the amount of litter on beaches rose by six per cent between 2009 and 2010.
Plastics account for more than half the items, and the number of plastic items found on British beaches has risen by 135per cent since 1994.
Marine litter kills more than one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals every year.
It can harm beach visitors, foul fishing gear and costs local authorities thousands of pounds each year in clean-up costs.
Plastics are rapidly becoming a significant "food item" for fish and sea birds, and carries pollutants which may be passed up the food chain.
The top four culprits are shipping, sewage, fishing and the public, the society said.
"When we perform our beach cleans, we record what we find and the collated results are sent to the MCS for analysis. This enables them to target litter at source, at local, national and international levels.
The society is asking volunteers to turn up at 10.30am, and if possible to email in advance to mcsplymouthlocalgroup@hotmail.com so they have an idea of numbers. Children are welcome but should be accompanied by an adult.
Find out more abou about the MCS Plymouth Local Group at www.mcsplymouthlocalgroup.co.uk
4 Comments
by Amy_Bugg
Wednesday, September 14 2011, 10:53PM
“As stated above, "The top four culprits [behind marine litter] are shipping, sewage, fishing and the public" - obviously, not all of this can be dealt with by SouthWest Water. One of the big problems at Batten Bay is litter left behind by beach visitors - crisp packets, drinks bottles and can, sweet wrappers, cups, disposable BBQs, etc. We also get a large amount of fishing-related debris, such as pieces of netting and rope, washing up onto the beach. There is a huge amount of plastic litter on this beach and that causes particular problems in the marine environment. I've written an article about Marine Debris on my blog, Respect Our Seas (http://tinyurl.com/66xhj2p) to try to explain how it negatively impacts on the marine environment - and it's users! The first step to solving this problem is increasing public awareness and showing people how they can help, and beach cleans really help with this. We survey everything we find as well and submit it to the Marine Conseravtion Society so they can target litter at source, at local, national and international levels. And I would agree with the comment about dog mess - we often find a lot of bagged dog pooh left behind on the beach, when there is a dog-pooh bin at the top of the steps that can be used to dispose of it. It's very frustrating as it doubles the problem - not just with the pooh, but with the additon of a plastic bag! Everyone is welcome to join us on the cleanup and if you want to know more, you can email us on mcsplymouthlocalgroup@hotmail.com.”
by LukeGreenhoug
Tuesday, September 06 2011, 3:52PM
“There's also a worrying practice emerging on beaches where people are not picking up dog poo if they think they haven't been spotted.
Its disgusting and is actually very dangerous to small children's health. Where is your self-respect!”
by josdave
Tuesday, September 06 2011, 2:14PM
“All credit to these volunteers but why aren't the offenders given community orders made to do it? Litter is becoming more and more of an eyesore as more and more people seem to be too lazy, that is the only word for it, to dispose of it properly. Our nearest school has a small derelict site near it which is covered in litter - sweet wrappers, crisp packets etc - guess where they came from. Parents are not drilling it into their offspring from an early age to dispose of litter properly.”
by pogle63
Tuesday, September 06 2011, 8:00AM
“I admire the work of the Marine Conservation Society, they do a wondeful job and deserve thanks for it. However I do wonder why Southwest Water are robbing us blind with our water charges part of which is supposed to be dealing with this problem. It is time they were refunding this money to its customers as they are obviously failing to use it for purpose.”