Great Dorset Beach Clean at Kimmeridge

The sun was shinning as the 22nd annual ‘Great Dorset beach clean’ got underway on Sunday 18th April. This great event, coordinated by the Dorset County Council's Coastal Ranger Team, happens all around Dorset with conscientious volunteers descended onto the beaches to help turn the tide on marine litter.

Kimmeridge saw a large turn out, with around a hundred volunteers gathering at the Fine Foundation Marine Centre to start the event, where they were handed out gloves, bags and safety instructions. Also, joining us was the Dorset Wildlife Trusts Surf n Turf group. This enthusiastic team of young people (13 to 25yrs) care passionately about our coastline and are working towards a recognised accreditation in conservation.

With everyone fully equipped and raring to go the crowd dispersed to get to work on cleaning up the beach. After a bit of sweat and plenty of fun a staggering 575kg of rubbish (over half a ton) was collected. This fantastic effort saw the removal of items such as cotton bud sticks, plastic bottles, old shoes, ropes, plastic bags, cigarette stubs and nurdles, just to mention a few. These items are not only unsightly for beach goers but they were also hazardous to marine animals.

Although this cleaning effort made a huge difference, marine litter unfortunately continues to rise on UK beaches year on year. But by continuing to clean our beaches, by improving our recycling and by reducing our waste we can stem the tide on marine litter.

The next beach clean will be at Worbarrow Bay on Sunday 19th September 2010 at 10.00am. Look on our Events Guide for more details as the date approaches.