This March-April time has seen Dorset residents come together to take part in local litter picking and beach cleaning activities, helping to spruce up our streets, green spaces and beaches prior to the summer season.
Litter Free Dorset – Land, Coast and Sea’s annual Great Dorset Beach Clean took place between 2nd-10th April with 14 beach cleans, occurring between Lyme Regis and Christchurch, hosted by local organisations and community groups.
Over 250 volunteers took part in the clean ups, collecting 100 bags of rubbish, including the usual suspects – fishing rope, cigarette butts and plastic bottles – plus some slightly unusual objects including wellie boots, balloons and oil drums.
Alongside the Great Dorset Beach Clean, Keep Britain Tidy’s UK-wide Great British Spring Clean and Great Big School Clean initiatives both took place between 25th March – 10th April. In Dorset, individuals, community groups, schools and local councils pledged to pick up as much litter as possible.
Over 1st-2nd April, Litter Free West Dorset and CUDS Clean Up Dorset Squad also arranged a West Dorset litter pick, supported by Litter Free Dorset and the Preventing Plastic Pollution project. This saw hundreds of residents grab litter pickers and get involved with tidying up their local areas.
Teams were organised across the West Dorset area and altogether it was estimated some 150+ bags of litter were cleared from West Dorset lanes, as well as significant quantities of larger items.
Sophie Colley, Litter Free Dorset’s coordinator said: “A big thank you to everyone involved in the recent Great Dorset Beach Clean, West Dorset litter pick and Keep Britain Tidy events, plus regular beach clean and litter picking events. Everyone’s combined efforts to clean up our streets, greenspaces and coastline will not only improve how our local areas look and feel but help prevent new materials from entering our waterways and marine environment. All this, while removing materials and degrading plastics that may have been in the local environment and sea for many years.”
Over time, plastics break up into lots of smaller pieces, harder to remove from the environment. While larger littered items can entrap and entangle both marine life and on-land wildlife, smaller pieces can be easily ingested, also causing harm. So, everyone who has taken part in litter picks and beach cleans across Dorset has helped prevent harm to local species while positively impacting our local bathing water quality.
Now that our sandy (and pebbly) beaches, vast expanses of green spaces and streets are cleaner than ever, Litter Free Dorset are calling for local residents and visitors alike to continue to take their litter home or use the bin when out and about at the coast or in the countryside this summer.
Interested in getting involved with litter picking and beach cleaning activities near you? Then check out the Litter Free Dorset website (link below) for details of active community groups near you.
litterfreedorset.co.uk/get-involved/join-a-group-near-you/
To stay updated with Litter Free Dorset’s latest campaigns and projects, check out their social media pages:
• Facebook – @LitterFreeDorset
• Instagram – @litterfreedorset
• Twitter – @LitterFreeDrst
Volunteer beach cleaners at Ferrybridge
Volunteer beach cleaners at Bowleaze Cove