British beach that’s the world’s dustbin
Dumped trash is washed 7,000 miles to our shores
A SEA of trash lies on a British beach as grim evidence of how our shores have become the world’s dustbin.
Despairing Janet Unitt is seen surveying a heap of discarded plastic, rubber, netting, polystyrene, utensils, tubing and sacks.
A further horrid hoard collected by photographer Richard Lord has evidence of where the trash has come from – traceable by serial codes and language on labels.
A can of WD40 came 5,880 miles from South Korea. A rusty can floated over 7,000 miles from Argentina. There was also Russian moisturiser, bottles from Turkey, a food wrapper from Spain and litter from China and Malaysia.
Richard and Janet found the haul on the Channel isle of Guernsey. Campaigner Richard, from St Peter Port, has been part of a beach cleaning group for 10 years and posts pictures under the social media handle of Sustainable Guernsey.
He said: “Beach cleaners have seen products from the US, Spain, Canada, Argentina, France, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Greece, Tunisia, Turkey, Singapore, Nigeria, South Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Marine debris is a major hazard for wildlife.”
Investment company worker Janet Unitt, 40, posts her items on social media under the handle of “Janet’s beachcombing finds”.
She said: “I remember the first time I found an item from the Far East washed up. It was an empty bottle of orange juice. I was amazed it had come so far. Then the more I started to clear rocky headlands, the more I started to regularly find items from Europe and the Far East sadly appearing.
“Why is a tiny island in the middle of the English Channel getting Far Eastern litter? It does make me angry.”
Julian Kirby, of Friends of the Earth, said: “Coastal communities across the world have to deal with daily tides of plastic pollution. We need to see governments introduce legislation which will finally stop use of unnecessary plastic.”