Cllr Dawn Poole with the litter picker equipment based at the lifeguard hut

2 Minute Beach Clean

Got two minutes? Then why not make a difference with a two minute beach clean. #2minutebeachclean is a project that was started in Cornwall by Martin Dorey and is rapidly sweeping across the world. And it’s good to see that Hastings has now adopted the scheme writes Zelly Restorick.

There are 38 million drinks bottles thrown away every day in the UK, while one million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals die each year due to marine litter.

Cllr Dawn Poole, the council’s lead member for the foreshore, believes this project is about raising awareness of the scale, source and impact of marine litter, which is destroying our oceans:

“We want to encourage people that use our beaches to get involved. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade; it shouldn’t be on the beach. It breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces called micro plastics, gets mistaken for food and so kills wildlife.

“Every piece of plastic removed from the beach no matter how big or small will no longer be a threat to the marine environment, it will not be ingested by wildlife, won’t attract toxins and it won’t strangle a seabird or sea mammal.”

HOW DEGRADING

Hastings Borough Council has sited litter pickers and bags at the Lifeguard Station at Pelham Place, the Beach Office at Marina and the Blue Reef Aquarium at Rock-A -Nore for anyone to use. Take two minutes to collect what you can and return the litter and litter picker to the site.

Cllr Poole continued:

“So if you’re on the beach or just taking a stroll along the prom, spare two minutes to help with this project. Even if you bag just one plastic bottle it all helps. You could even take part in the social media campaign ‘Pick it – snap it – tag it’ by uploading your images to #2minutebeachclean via Twitter or Instagram.

“Come on, get involved, take two minutes to make a difference to your beach and the environment.”

More information can be found at Beach Clean.

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