Family dedicate weekends to keeping beauty spot beach tidy
FOR most families, a weekend trip to the seaside is a chance to unwind, grab an ice cream and get the buckets and spades out.
But for one family from Cardiff, it means a two-hour round-trip to a Welsh beauty spot every weekend – to go litter-picking.
Teaching assistant Julie O’Shea, 46, and her partner Tim Rees, 43, take children Mitch, 15, Emi, 11 and Isaac, five, on long walks to Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire in a bid to help keep it clean for others to enjoy.
They enjoy long walks down the beach and then collect rubbish on their way back, a task that can take them up to two hours.
The family have been inspired by the #2minutebeachclean campaign, which encourages people to spend anything from two minutes to hours picking up any rubbish they find washed up or left on beaches.
“We just noticed the vast amount of plastic that had been washed up on the beach,” Julie said.
“It’s just shocking. We started off picking up a few bits and bobs, but then it gets a bit addictive.”
Julie and plumber Tim, together with St Teilo’s Church in Wales High School pupils Mitch and Emi, and Bishop Childs CIW Primary School pupil Isaac, are determined to get unwanted items off the beach – no matter what size they are.
They even found a soft toy that is now their son’s favourite toy.
“We just pick up anything we can drag up the beach with us,” Julie added.
“A fridge is the biggest thing we’ve found that we’ve managed to get off the beach.”
While children enjoy the experience, Julie says that there is also an element of her teaching them to respect nature.
“We’ve always discouraged littering, they know not to litter and if they do they have to pick it up,” she said.
“They’ve seen the pictures of the wild birds tangled in balloon strings.
“They know that plastic shouldn’t be in the ocean and that they’re helping – plus it wears them out!”
The St Mellons family mostly find single-use plastics like drink bottles, a problem that Julie says can have a simple solution.
“More and more people are becoming aware and a lot of people are pushing for deposit return systems for single-use plastic bottles.
“People would be more inclined to pick them up if they got money back for them, so the deposit return schemes are a good idea.
“Plus, everyone can do a two-minute beach clean.”