Arguineguin Beach Clean 2013

Arguineguin Beach Clean 2013

This year´s beach clean (24th March 2013) went extremely well, great atmosphere, company and a brand new sparkly clean beach! On top of that we got waves included..

Highlight a Plight: Every year we focus on different plights that may go un-noticed otherwise. This year we look at the importance of not only keeping our beaches clean, but WHY and HOW we can reduce our plastic consumption.

This year we are using the birds from the island of Gyre and how, astonishingly, despite being hundreds of km from the nearest populated coast, they are dying due to the ingestion of plastic debris in the water. 

Lobby the International Governments “Evolution of legislation” regarding Plastic Bags: This year, the Surfrider Foundation are lobbying to fight the number of “one use” plastic bags that are distributed. “Evolution of legislation” is how it is being named. 

Educate: Even small actions have big consequences when it comes to plastic in the sea…

Plastic, even if it is well disposed of by us, has an  uncanny knack of getting free… and once free, the only thing to trap it are bushes/trees or water… 

How does that affect us here? Well, any plastic on the beaches (or even the roads) combined with our climate of high winds means that plastic bags get airborne easily and only stop when it gets trapped to the first thing - usually a bush, tree or the ocean. 

Even if we are responsible and dispose of the plastic, how do we know that it is going to end up in the right place? How many times have you driven past the big garbage sites in Las Palmas and Juan Grande on a windy day and seen whirlwinds whisking plastic into the air?   

This plastic does not break down for a long time (see diagram x) and will easily arrive back on our beaches, ingested by fish, birds or sea mammals.

So our job of cleaning this beach on the 24th March will help A LITTLE towards our beach being clean, but if the publicity helps to make people more responsible about a) how they dispose of rubbish and b) cutting down on their use of plastic, then this will be our most successful aspect of the event

In further articles we will publicise the ways possible, also we would love to hear your ideas: How would YOU reduce your plastic consumption?

Send us your ideas an comments, no matter how crazy they may sound!