Sophie’s praise for great Mail litter pick
Sophie praises Mail’s fight as daughter Louise warns that rubbish blight is worsening
The earl and Countess of Wessex yesterday spoke of their sadness at the scourge of lockdown litter as they lent their support to the Great British September Clean.
Accompanied by their children, Lady Louise, 16, and James, Viscount Severn, 12, the couple joined families across the country making a difference to their communities by picking up rubbish from Southsea Beach in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Sophie, 55, and Louise told the Mail of their concern about the surge of plastic pollution during the pandemic, particularly disposable masks and the increase in use of single-use coffee cups. Louise said: ‘everything’s got worse this year because people have gone back to non-resuable, non-recyclable plastic cups.’
Praising the volunteers for the Great British September Clean, organised by Keep Britain Tidy and backed by the Daily Mail, Prince edward, 56, and Sophie said: ‘It’s been fantastic that we’ve all been able to enjoy the great outdoors again, with day trips to parks and the seaside over the summer, but it’s such a shame to see that with locktheir down easing there is also more litter being left in our public spaces...
‘It’s great to see the hard work of all the volunteers taking part in the Great British September Clean as once again we see the British people rolling up their sleeves to do their bit for their local communities.’
The couple and their children were on the south coast yesterday – part of the Wessex area of the UK from which the family takes their name – helping the Marine Conservation Society and Southsea Beach Watch.
It was good preparation for Louise, they said, who is beginning her Duke of edinburgh Gold Award which will involve volunteering.
Her first task, however, was to cope with her mischievous brother, who immediately started prodding the back of her legs when they were both given grabbers for the litter pick.
But she got her own back when James ended up with two left-handed gloves. ‘I knew there was something wrong with you,’ his sister quipped.
The family found dozens of bottle caps, plastic straws, lolly sticks, and bits of plastic and glass, as well a fishing line with hooksand even an angle grinder disc.
Talking about collecting rubbish in local forest, Louise said: ‘I want to pick it up but then we don’t have bin bags. And then we don’t have gloves and you are not sure whether to touch it.’ She and her mother agreed disposable medical masks, which have been found entangled in wildlife, were also a major problem.
Sophie said: ‘We aren’t being told what to do with them. Obviously we would want to encourage people to use these lovely reusable masks, but sometimes you can’t.’ After an hour and a half of litter-picking, the family stopped to chat to locals taking part in the clean-up. Louise, who joshed with her brother, spoke animatedly about starting A-levels in english, history, politics, and drama and how she was studying some ‘pretty heavy going Greek poetry’.
Volunteers can take part in the Great British September Clean, which runs until this Sunday, by litter picking in groups of up to six.
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