Images and text by Claire McGurk
As a resident of Blackpool I am one that takes full advantage of the coastline in my work as a photographer and social media sites have allowed me to share my images of colourful sunsets and picturesque landscapes for the past few years. Like most people I’m completely addicted to social media and that recently drew my attention to a Facebook group and a problem on our sandy beaches - litter.
Rossall Beach Buddies are a community group who volunteer their time to clean our beaches. Like me you might assume that it’s the council’s job to keep the beaches free of litter dumped by careless tourists but, it’s residents causing a problem too. As I walked beside a member while she combed the beach for litter I asked her, “What is the most common thing you pick up?” “There’s a lot of sanitary waste and cotton buds which is really irritating. People flush stuff down the toilet, it gets through the filters at the sewage works and it ends up on the beach.”
Did your heart just sink in the same way mine did at the thought of how many cotton buds we’re guilty of throwing down the toilet? It never occurred to me that my tiny cotton bud would end up being a danger to wildlife on my own doorstep. Fishing wire is another beach cleaner’s frequent find. These tiny green threads washed into shore are actually a serious worry. Imagine a seagull comes to shore to find dinner and becomes tangled in something you left behind, how does that make you feel?
Rossall Beach Buddies have taught me more about the beach environment in one hour than I have ever known in the entire 17 years I have lived here and despite the fact that they’re litter picking they are genuinely having fun. Therapeutic and obsessive are words members have used to describe their work. “You don’t have to think about anything, you don’t have to think about what’s wrong with the world. Just listen to the sea, the birds and keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks like it doesn’t belong.”
From spending just one hour with the group I can really feel their passion and by the end of their session they collected 130 kilos of rubbish. If that’s what can be done in one hour imagine what each of us could achieve if we spent a small portion of our time helping out. These images show just some of the items I have found whilst out in the past 6 weeks and the variety of objects is fascinating. All of the images were taken on 35mm black and white film.
