Burnt wood from beach fires an issue on Islandmagee beach, clean up volunteers report

A team of Marine Conservation Society (MCS) participants, led by Elena Aceves-Cully, organised the event (which could not be publicly advertised because of the pandemic) as part of the charity’s Beachwatch Programme.

Despite adverse weather forecast, volunteers made a great effort to pick up all litter found to support MCS’s ongoing mission to clear the UK’s beaches of plastic pollution and marine litter.

They collected four bags of litter across the 200 metre stretch of the Co Antrim beach - 338 items weighing a total of approximately 45 kg.  

Elena said: “There was a great sense of community, with locals working together to clear Brown’s Bay of litter. These events provide a fantastic opportunity for all of us to do something tangible about plastic pollution and seeing the volume of litter we cleared from Brown’s Bay was really eye opening.

“Thank you to everyone who took the time to help us clean and survey the beach, I hope to see you all at our next beach clean. It was good to see a reduction in the number of dog poo, though it is regrettable that some owners are still leaving bagged dog poo on the beach.

“Again, plastic items accounted for most of what was found, for example tops of milk bottles, which can be easily swallowed by a bird or seal. It was unfortunate to see however quite a number of cigarette butts, a couple of cotton bud sticks and plenty of lollipop or ice-cream sticks. Also, seven balloons were found, which can easily kill birds.

“This year it was also noted there had been a number of bonfires on the beach and burnt wood abandoned on the beach. Beach users should not do this but bring their own barbecues and always remove all rubbish and bonfire items when leaving.”

The invaluable data gathered is used by the Marine Conservation Society to support its campaigns to develop policies which target plastic pollution and marine litter at source. This data was integral to the implementation of the 5p plastic carrier bag charge and has been used as evidence in the consultations for a UK wide Deposit Return Scheme. 

Lauren Eyles, Beachwatch programme manager, said: “It’s fantastic to see people coming together to clean-up our wonderful beaches. We’re thrilled to have the support of Elena Aceves-Cully and the local community who have provided us with valuable data which will inform our work over the next year.

“We hope that the beach clean events will motivate Islandmagee locals to head out onto their local beaches year-round and help keep the UK’s beaches beautiful.”

For more information please visit www.mcsuk.org 

Read previous report on impact of beach parties at Brown’s Bay here

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