Cotton buds, shotgun wads, plastic toys, and Lego washed up on a Cornish beach give "a shocking insight into the scale of global ocean plastic pollution"

There are tons of plastic in the sea - and people are trying to do something about it:
Futures Forum: Litter Free Coast & Sea @ Lyme Regis: Tues 11th July
Futures Forum: UN Ocean Conference >>> a 'game-changer' in cutting plastic pollution
Futures Forum: Campaign to eliminate plastics from the sea

In Cornwall, a very visible statement has been made:
Man collects 35 bags of trash from Tregantle beach and turns it into art display at Liskeard museum | Cornwall Live

Here is the story covered by today's i newspaper:

Shocking photos that will change the way you think about plastic forever




Tregantle beach where 35 bags of micoplastics were collected at on one day in May 2017 (Photo: SWNS)

In just one day artist and environmentalist Rob Arnold collected 35 heavy bags of plastic he found washed up on Tregantle Beach in Cornwall.

Rob regularly combs the Cornwall beaches looking for plastic to use in his art, but the scale of that washed up in April took his breath away.

Micro plastics after sieving further dry in the sun. These beads were collected on one day (Photo: SWNS)

“It was on the last day of April,” Rob told i. “I put a shout out on Facebook for volunteers to help me collect it all. I’ve spent the last few weeks sorting through it.



Sieving microplastics on the drive (Photo: SWNS)

“I wanted to get across how enormous the problem is. Some of the items are quite relatable. All of the little things we can feel recognition with will hopefully change our attitude to plastic.”

Fishing beads, often lost when the line and tackle becomes snagged on rocks. Also BB gun pellets most likely from land base sources, entering the sea via drains and rivers (Photo: SWNS)

Plastic cotton bud sticks collected by Rob Arnold from Tregantle Beach in one day (Photo: SWNS)

While the scale of the rubbish – on one beach in one small corner of the world – gives a shocking insight into the scale of global ocean plastic pollution, it also sheds fascinating light on what we throw away.

Smartie lids. Nestle/Rowntree stopped using these in 2005 so these will have been lost at sea for at least 12 years (Photo: SWNS)

Rob dried out his plastic haul and separated it into nurdles – plastic pellets used for manufacturing – hundreds of cotton buds, shotgun wads, plastic toys, and Lego washed up from the great spill of 20 years ago, when a container carry thousands of pieces of Lego was washed off its ship.

240 Lego flippers. These are all from the Lego container spill in 1997. And all collected in one day at Tregantle Beach, turned it into an art display at a museum

Shocking photos that will change the way you think about plastic forever - The i newspaper online iNews
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