Charity and community

PLANET AWARE

Across the UK, it is estimated that as many as 53 billion nurdles – small plastic pellets about the size of a lentil – could enter our oceans every year, posing a threat to marine wildlife and polluting entire ecosystems. When Island duo Sarah Marshall and Anne Sayer met at an Isle of Wight beach clean in 2017, they decided to do something about it

Sarah Marshall & Anne Sayer

Sarah cleaned her first beach 20 years ago and had been moved by the plastic rubbish she’d encountered. “We were keen to run projects to tackle plastic pollution on the beaches,” explains Sarah. “Then Blue Planet 2 aired, and people’s understanding of plastic changed overnight.”

Many wanted to fix the problem with alternatives, such as biodegradable cups and straws, without understanding these came with a cost. “Planet Aware is more than beach cleans and banning plastic straws – our projects help people understand how they can help our oceans by cutting consumption of the planet’s resources, repairing more and avoiding waste,” explains Sarah. Beach cleans are still a big feature of Planet Aware’s activities – during 2019 and 2020 they removed over a tonne of rubbish from Isle of Wight beaches and data on collections is shared with the Marine Conservation Society to help create policy change. Planet Aware also runs the Solent and Isle of Wight Beach Hub – a web resource for people to find out more about beach cleaning and other coastal activities such as nurdle hunting and rock pooling.

Corporate Beach Cleans

Planet Aware is using its knowledge and skills in running beach cleans to help generate income for other projects. “Beach cleaning is still really popular – and we encourage everyone to pick up a few bits of rubbish while they are out,” says Sarah. “A successful group beach clean requires quite a bit more planning. We have run organised beach cleans for nearly four years and in 2020 were thrilled to run our first corporate beach clean at Compton Chine.”

Xavier Baker, Managing Director at Isle of Wight Distillery says: “We were keen to do a good thing, so it was great to work with Planet Aware and the National Trust to get the beach cleared. Members of our team use this stretch of beach for surfing, paddleboarding and strolling, so we’d been aware of the rubbish pile for a while. Many had previously collected debris from the beach and gathered it at the bottom of the cliff, so the distillery team came along to do the last bit and haul it up!”

Nurdles

Enquire about commissioning Planet Aware to run a beach clean as a corporate day out for your organisation or visit the Solent and Isle of Wight Beach Hub to get involved and find out more: www.planetaware.co.uk