Beach Litter – It’s Rubbish!
10 September 2010
Carrickfergus Borough Council staff volunteered to help the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) fight marine litter by taking part in a team building event on the Marine Highway Shoreline. Staff cleaned the beach of its litter and completed surveys, which will be sent back to the Marine Conservation Society allowing them to tackle marine litter at its source.
Alan Barkley, Director of Environmental Services said "In total 1,843 items of litter were lifted, along with 5 bags of recyclable rubbish, including over 200 plastic bottles, 100 drink cans and several glass bottles. Other interesting finds included a rusty bicycle, a pair of trousers, a hot water bottle, a garden fork, a car registration plate and some Christmas lights! Litter comes from four main sources: fishing, shipping, the public and sewage related debris (particularly cotton buds). Beach litter is continually washed ashore, making it a very difficult problem to eradicate – this is why the surveys are so important! Beach litter is an increasing problem in Northern Ireland with approximately one item of litter being found per footstep on beaches."
Amanda Wilson, the Marine Conservation Society organiser for the Marine Highway Shoreline said, "It’s great that Carrickfergus Borough Council is so keen to be involved with the work of MCS and have shown such enthusiasm during the recent team building event". She invites everyone to join her during Beachwatch Weekend (18th/19th September), a UK-wide beach clean up and litter survey, aiming to turn the tide on marine litter. Local events kick off at 10.30am at Brown’s Bay. For more information on events taking place in Northern Ireland contact manda_wilson@hotmail.co.uk or visit www.mcsuk.org.
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For further information please contact:
Stephen Daye, Parks & Countryside Development Officer
Telephone: 028 9335 8000
E-Mail: parks@carrickfergus.org
