Mum launches campaign to help clean up beaches

A BARRY mum is leading the fight to rid the town’s beaches of litter.

Aoife Blight said she was appalled at the amount of plastic waste she saw on Barry’s beaches while she was walking her 10-month-old son.

So she decided to launch the 2 Minute Beach Clean campaign, which encourages beach-goers to get involved and help keep the coastline clean.

Visitors to Whitmore Bay will be greeted by a custom-built board, which advertises the campaign and supplies participants with rubbish bags and litter-picking tongs – inviting them to take part in a two-minute litter pick.

Aoife modelled her idea on a similar scheme in Bude, Cornwall, where volunteers noticed a 60% reduction in beach waste in the first 12 months.

“Everyone wants to have a nice time on the beach”, she said.

“Rather than expecting the council or a specific group of volunteers to clean the beach up, the scheme encourages people to take ownership.

“Two minutes is no time at all, and people are happy to do it.

“Some people end up doing it for 10 or 20 minutes – they get really absorbed in it.”

While removing litter from Barry’s beaches is a start, Aoife also wants to tackle other issues around plastic waste.

“We live in a society with plastic on everything”, she said.

“But in supermarkets, you always have a choice.

“You can always buy loose fruit and vegetables, and if you have time you can go to the greengrocer.”

Using the name Zerowastecardiff on social media, Aoife said she has been impressed by the positive response to the campaign – which is officially being launched on Saturday, January 20.

“Since I first shared the photo of my campaign board on social media, interest in the campaign has really taken off”, she said.

“I’m just a mum on maternity leave, but everyone can make a change just by taking a couple of minutes out of their day.”

The Vale of Glamorgan council is also contributing vital equipment to the project.

Miles Punter, director of environment and housing services, said: “The council is fully supportive of beach-cleaning initiatives such as this and we would like to thank the group for their efforts to preserve what is one of the most popular locations in the Vale of Glamorgan.

“We will do all we can to help with the task, including supplying the volunteers with litter pickers and waste bags.”