HURST team clean beach of 1,000 pieces of litter

A beach clean-up by nearly 70 members of our team saw them collect almost 1,000 pieces of litter in just 90 minutes.

The group picked up 64kgs of discarded waste during their mission at West Kirby on Wirral.

More than 50 per cent of the litter was plastic or polystyrene in origin. The group also collected objects made from glass, metal, wood, paper, cardboard, cloth and rubber, as well as sanitary, pottery and ceramics items.

A total of 68 people took part in the clean-up, which was organised with the Marine Conservation Society.

Among the items they collected along a 600-metre stretch of the beach were plastic bags, drink cans and bottles, crisp, sweets and sandwich packets, clothing, chip forks and lolly sticks, foil wrappers, wet wipes, balloons and fishing gear.

Robyn Vandesande, a member of our people and planet team, which runs hands-on and interactive programmes to promote care of the environment, helped to arrange the clean-up.

She said: “I have a keen interest in conservation and sea life and, after reading about the work of the Marine Conservation Society and the activities involved in the beach clean-up days, it seemed a great opportunity to combine some hands-on involvement to support its work while at the same time being a useful and memorable team building exercise.

“Improving the planet’s health, and finding ways to slow down global warming and its effects, must begin with the individual. It was great to get the opportunity to weave this into our working lives.

“West Kirby beach is known for being very clean, so given the amount of litter we collected really makes you think how bad dirtier beaches must be and the state they would be in if groups such as the Marine Conservation Society weren’t dedicating their time to clean-ups, data collection and awareness projects.”

Clare Trotman, Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch Officer, said: “We are so grateful to HURST for undertaking such a thorough clean of West Kirby beach and for surveying the litter they found.

“Not only have they safely stopped harmful litter from entering the Irish Sea, but their survey results will also help us to understand what types of litter are being found on the Wirral coast and give us an idea of where this is coming from.”

For more information about the Marine Conservation Society, visit www.mcsuk.org