Mass beach clean-up

Monday 15 September 2014

They might look beautiful from a distance but some of the Island’s beaches are littered with broken glass, cigarette butts and plastic bottles that's unsightly and dangerous to local marine wildlife.

Now Islanders are being encouraged to spare an hour and take part in a mass clean up to get rid of all the rubbish and help protect all the species living on the coast.

Businesses are being urged to “adopt” an area of the Island’s coastline and get staff out to help pick up all the junk next weekend.

The Island-wide Beach Clean is being run by the States Eco-Active team next Sunday between 12 and 2 pm and is part of a national campaign.

Eco-Active Programme Manager Jane Burns said: ”Scratch the surface of our gorgeous beaches and you can find broken glass, barbecue debris, cigarette butts and plastic bottles – there’s a lot of junk out there. It’s unsightly, but it can also cause serious harm to marine wildlife, so this is a real opportunity to give Jersey beaches one big Island Wide Beach Clean.

“It’s just one hour of your time we’re asking for, and you’ll walk away knowing you’ve made it a nicer and safer place for yourself, your family, for tourists, and you could save the lives of some of our best-loved marine wildlife.”

People can also join forces with the local branch of the Marine Conservation Society at Le Braye Slip who will be meeting at 1 pm and members of Littlefeet Environmental will be at various locations across the Island, including St Brelade’s Bay.

Businesses that sign up will be given refuse bags, latex gloves and a set of scales to record what they collect. 

You can find out more and sign up by emailing Jane at eco-active@gov.je