Clean Earth Trust on a mission to monitor coastline’s rubbish
DETAILED monitoring of rubbish on Guernsey’s coastline will help in deciding what can be done about it, according to a local charity.
The Clean Earth Trust’s primary objective is to limit negative human impact on the environment.
Helped by funding from the Guernsey Community Foundation, the CET plans to hold weekly surveys on the island’s beaches and record its findings. It aims to get a broad and detailed understanding of waste and plastic deposition on the shores, which can be monitored year-on-year.
‘There’s a lot already happening on our beaches with organised cleans and what you can see on the Found on the Beach in Guernsey Facebook profile,’ said CET community engagement Helen Quin.
There was also the Guernsey Waste Wombling scheme.
‘This is about taking the goodwill of the people and turning it into a citizen science project.’
The shoreline between the Cobo kiosk and Saline slipway at Grandes Rocques was the latest stretch to undergo inspection. Findings will be recorded on a Marine Conservation Society survey form.
‘We’ve found dog poo – some bagged some not – plastic bags, coffee cups, fishing rope, polystyrene, a toothbrush, bottles caps and lids, micro plastics and cigarette butts,’ said Miss Quin.
‘The things we want to establish include whether the waste is residential or international, and which parts of the coast are the most affected.’
Sharing information with the public as they went along was important as while there would be an annual report it was an organic project.
Miss Quin is inviting businesses to get involved and she said they might want to do this through their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.
The CET enjoyed a good relationship with Guernsey Waste, Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services, and La Societe Guernesiaise.
Scotty Bradbury, 6, who goes to Hautes Capelles, was among those taking part in the latest survey.
‘We are doing about rubbish at school and I want to help to keep the planet safe,’ he said.
The school work included a play about the journey of a plastic bag, where it ends up, and who eats it.
Surveys would be held every week with details available on the CET Facebook page. All are dependent on wind, weather and tides.
The CET is looking for a yard where it can place a shed to store equipment and hose down buckets. Anyone who can help is asked to make contact via the Facebook page.
