Students up to the task of cleaning eight beaches
EIGHT beaches have been cleaned by local students as part of their vocation studies step-up course.
The Guernsey Institute students decided on beach cleaning for a student-led part of the course, and worked with the Clean Earth Trust to set up the project.
They cleaned eight beaches in eight weeks.
‘We found lots of cigarette butts, coffee cups and ice-cream wrappers,’ said Seb Mauger, 17.
‘My favourite beach to clean was Grandes Rocques.’
The project allowed the students to develop their team work and planning skills, plan routes using the bus service, and collect data from their finds.
The items collected from the beach were distributed into the correct bags for recycling where possible, and other rubbish was disposed of.
There is a shelf in the classroom with some of the more obscure items the students found, which include a school tie and a pom pom from a hat.
‘We also found a lot of vapes, clothes and golf balls,’ said Stephen Destana, 17.
‘The worst bit was the weather, because some of the days it was raining which wasn’t fun, but most of the time it was
OK.’
Before the students set off for the beach, representatives from the Clean Earth Trust gave a presentation on how to stay safe when beach cleaning, such as using litter pickers, wearing gloves and not touching needles.
‘It has been really enjoyable seeing the students do this project, and also get involved ourselves,’ said Sophy Willmott, curriculum lead for the step-up course.
‘They’ve found lots of interesting things and it has really helped to develop their skills.’
The students will be adding up all of the items they have found, and turn it into collective data.
The data will then be sent to the Clean Earth Trust for their records.
