HELPING TO CLEAN UP OUR COAST AND COUNTRYSIDE
As part of Keep Britain Tidy's 'Power Hour' event at the weekend, on Sunday evening, I decided I was going to spend an hour on Exmoor's North Hill but on the way there, I decided to head to Bossington Beach as it had been a couple of weeks since I'd been there and had already been to Porlock Weir and Lynmouth over the past couple of days. I'm so glad that I did as on my arrival, I was greeted by the remains of a large disposable barbecue, wet wipes and fishing bait bags spread around the pebbles in front of me. I walked the section between the old Pill box and Hurlestone Point and over 90% of what I collected was beach litter rather than items washed up on the tide. I collected 2 more disposable barbecues, more bait bags (note the message at the bottom of the bag) some with bait still left in them, more wet wipes, drinks cans and plastic bottles. I was so disappointed to find all of this as I normally just find a couple of littered items left on the beach and can spend my time collecting what the sea has washed up before it ends up going out on the next tide. I posted a photo and message on Facebook hoping that it will help discourage people from littering. I know it will always be a problem but the more it's talked about, some people will realise it's not acceptable. You'll notice in the top photo, there is another item I collected which at first I thought from a distance was a piece of stone or concrete but when I went down to it, I recognised it as the remains of a polystyrene body board which has obviously been in the sea for a long time with the rest of it ending up somewhere else or even smaller pieces being consumed by sea life. Broken body boards are a real problem further down the coast with hundreds collected each season during beach cleans.
After an hour, I had plenty to carry back to the car and still enough time to drive up on North Hill and spend another hour litter picking there. I found a few drinks cans, bottles and the usual fast food packaging. I also found what looked like the lining of a car boot which I was able to drag back to the car and dispose of along with everything else on today's collection. I'm always grateful to all the people who come up and thank me for helping to tidy up and make a difference to where they enjoy walking. I know when I go out for a walk, I enjoy it so much more if I don't see any litter!
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AuthorBorn in West Somerset, I have always been proud of where I live and want everyone else to enjoy it too! Archives
September 2022
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