Kilfinan aims for a litter-free coast and sea
Kilfinan locals are cracking down on ‘unflushables’ – items not supposed to be flushed down the toilet due to their inability to break down in the system and therefore clog the sewage system or end up in the sea.
Local resident and member of Kilfinan Community Council Michaela Blair said: ‘We keep finding unflusha- bles on our beaches when we are out beach cleaning our coastline. It is disgusting.
‘Visitors love to visit Cowal and enjoy our beaches. We initially set out to clean up over 47 kms of remote coastline in our area and applied for funding for beach clean kits for adults and kids through Argyll and Bute’s Sustainable Communities Initiative. So far more than 150 bags of litter have been removed and tons of plastics collected and uplifted by volunteers.’
The volunteers, however, regularly find wet wipes, cotton buds and other debris which have been flushed down the loo.
Peter McBride, who has spearheads the beach clean campaign in his retirement, heads out weekly to remote beaches helped by friends and volunteers.
Peter said: ‘We are delighted that the community has embraced the beach clean initiative. However, we are worried about people putting unflushables down the toilet. These invariably wash up on our shores seriously affecting the health of our seas.’
Thanks to funding from Argyll and Bute Council the sticker for the loo aims to educate and inform locals, visitors and holiday makers on what not to put down the loo. Kilfinan Community Council plans to distribute stickers indicating items that are ‘unflushable’ in coastline homes, remote properties, pubs and hotels throughout the parish of Kilfinan, which includes Millhouse, Tighnabruaich, Kames and Otter Ferry.