Take a walk along any beach or riverside, anywhere, and you can’t help but notice the amount of plastic waste that has been washed up on the shore
Over eight million tonnes of plastic debris ends up in our seas every year, polluting lands, rivers, coasts, beaches, and seas – that is, about, five shopping bags full of plastic for every foot of coastline in the world.
Plastic debris kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals annually, as well as millions of birds and fishes.
The river Thames is no exception to this problem so once a month the Grays Beachcombers, led by Steve Catchpole, meet by Thurrock Yacht Club and spend a couple of hours collecting discarded plastic – mainly single use drinks bottles.
In the last six months of 2017 they collected 350 sacks of rubbish and, so far, this year they have collected over 150 sacks of rubbish including more than a thousand plastic drinks bottles.
If you want to help, the Beachcombers meet on the first Sunday of each month at 10.30 by Thurrock Yacht Club. We finish by 12 noon and have a well-deserved cup of coffee and bacon roll (vegetarian alternative available) courtesy of the Lightship Café.