When we think of the beach, relaxation comes to mind. The beach serves as a place of escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Whether it’s the soothing sound of waves moving against the shore, the feel of sand beneath our feet, or the sight of a breathtaking sunset like the one below, the beach offers a sensory experience like no other.
Visiting beaches has been scientifically shown to have numerous health benefits. For example, this was shown to be the case by a study carried out by DEFRA. Professor Nicola Beaumont, Head of Science for Sea and Society at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, said of the study:
“Our research demonstrates that marine and coastal areas play an important role in supporting people’s well-being. However, we have also shown that these benefits are threatened by marine pollution, coastal development, climate change and exposure to extreme weather.”
With the increasing awareness of environmental issues, beaches have become focal points for conservation efforts. Protecting these delicate ecosystems is crucial for maintaining their beauty and biodiversity and the benefits that brings to our well-being.
The Clean Earth Trust
The Clean Earth Trust is at the forefront of efforts in Guernsey to preserve our beautiful beaches.
We are an environmental charity with the stated aim of limiting human impact on the environment. Our core activities include:
- Organising regular beach cleans to remove marine litter and protect our shores from the harm it does to the marine eco system.
- Encouraging the repair of clothes and artifacts, swapping of garments and the development of sewing skills to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry and encourage a circular economy.
- Encouraging government to adopt policies that protect the environment.
Beach Cleans
Our work to keep our beaches clean has several benefits. Most obviously, the removal of unsightly waste from our shores optimises the chance for everyone to enjoy pristine beaches and improve their physical and mental health by engaging with them.
Clearing our beaches of marine litter also benefits our marine life. For example, removing discarded rope, fishing lines and netting reduces the risk of marine mammals becoming entrapped and dying because they can no longer feed properly or avoid predators.
The majority of the items we collect are plastic. Plastic items are the most abundant, persistent and damaging component of marine litter. They contain toxins originating from the production process. Over time plastic breaks down through the action of sunlight and abrasion. It becomes small pieces known as micro plastic and even smaller pieces known as nano plastics all of which remain in the environment.
The main harm caused to marine mammals, birds and fish is ingestion of these pieces of plastic and the residual toxins within them. This results in accumulation of indigestible material in the intestine and often leads to fatalities. When the dead bodies of large sea mammals are inspected they are often found to have quantities of plastic in their digestive systems.
Most animals killed by marine plastics are undiscovered as they either sink to the bottom or are eaten by other animals, so we tend not to see the full extent of the harm done. But we know it is happening, and we do all we can to reduce the impact of plastics on marine life.
It is also the case that when plastic is ingested by marine animals it enters the food chain. Micro plastics are entering our bodies through this route or by inhalation of nano plastics which have become airborne. We now have microplastics in our blood streams and in our organs. The possible consequences for human health are concerning and scientists are engaged in evaluating the risks although it may take many years before a clear understanding is reached.
One of the most toxic items of marine litter we remove from our beaches is cigarette butts. There are two problems with littered cigarette butts. They are made of cellulose acetate, which is a form of plastic and has the effects on wildlife already mentioned. They also contain numerous toxic chemicals including arsenic, nicotine, lead, cadmium, copper, chromium, ethyl phenol and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Many people aren’t aware of the dangers posed to marine life by cigarette butts. They don’t realise that discarding cigarette butts on or near our beaches or waterways flowing to the sea runs the very real risk that our marine life will be exposed to the toxins they contain. A scientific study concluded that leachate from cigarette butts is acutely toxic to both saltwater and freshwater species.
Tests using the saltwater topsmelt (Atherinops affinis) and the freshwater fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) established that a mortality rate of 50% results from exposure to a dilution of approximately 1 cigarette butt per litre of water for both species. It is quite possible that similar levels of mortality would apply to many other marine species. If so, a single cigarette butt trapped in a small rockpool could be very harmful to the aquatic life in the pool during the lengthy period between the pool forming on an ebb tide and the next rising tide.
Apart from the ambient toxicity caused by diluted leachates, there are risks to young children and wild animals from direct ingestion of discarded butts. Cigarette butts have been found in the guts of whales, dolphins, turtles, and sea birds and other animals, which have mistaken them for food. When animals, birds or fish ingest cigarette butts this can lead to inflammation of parts of the digestive system, a blockage in the gut and leaching of toxic chemicals into the bloodstream any of which can be fatal.
What is Involved in a Beach Clean
We run public beach cleans which are open to all including children. Participants are provided with buckets, gloves and litter pickers and are given instructions on what to collect, which is essentially man-made items. They are then free to scour the beach and surroundings for waste items.
Volunteers collect a wide range of items, some of which can be very interesting or surprising. For example, bottles and other packaging originating from remote places and bearing foreign languages, tangled masses of ropes and netting, and many other intriguing items. The photos below show a small sample of the range of items which have been found during our beach cleans.
After an hour or so people return to the meeting point with their finds and often express surprise about how much waste they have found. There is an obvious sense of satisfaction at what the group has achieved.
There is a serious side to our beach cleans because they form part of a citizen science project. Participants help to sort and classify what has been collected into various categories of marine litter. The resulting data is then logged into a database, which is used to create and publish annual marine litter reports. These reports are a valuable resource to bodies, such as the Nature Commission, who have used it in compiling their State of Nature Report 2024.
The data is also relevant to specific issues such as uncollected dog waste, the presence of single use plastics and the cigarette butt impact on marine life. Our data helps empirically demonstrate the extent of the problems and supports action to achieve solutions.
The photo below shows the final stage of the data collection process which is weighing and recording the total weight of marine litter collected in each clean.
Health Benefits of Taking Part in Beach Cleans
Taking part in our beach cleans not only benefits our marine environment but also enhances the physical and mental wellbeing of participants.
In the latter part of 2024 we teamed up with Dr Laura Bell of the Healthcare Group specifically to enable them to offer beach cleaning as a form of social prescribing for their patients and other members of the community who have mental health or other issues. These events are supported by Guernsey MIND and details can be found on their Facebook page. Attendance at these beach cleans has been good and the events have been much enjoyed by participants. They find the shared experience of enjoying the beach’s beauty and taking part in a worthwhile activity creates a sense of purpose, wellbeing and belonging.
Getting Involved
You can get involved by taking part in our public beach cleans.
We would love to hear from anyone who would like to become a beach clean volunteer to help us run our beach cleans and perhaps progress to leading some in future. You can enquire about this by contacting us.
If you are a large employer, you could consider organising a corporate beach clean with us are part of your CSR programme for staff.
If you just want to go to the beach and do your own beach clean then you can help us by completing the on-line survey form, which is available on our website so your data will be included in our next annual marine litter report.
If you wish to support us financially, please donate through our giving page: https://giving.gg/donate/charity/1395/The-Clean-Earth-Trust
We look forward to seeing you on one of our beautiful beaches soon.