What a difference a day makes!
On Sunday February 10, local volunteers picked another half-a-ton of rubbish from the left (east) bank of the River Rother below the Monkbretton road bridge.
That brings the total collected to date by volunteers to 1½ tons! That’s the equivalent by weight of an average car. Try lifting that!
Usual suspects were again much in evidence – car tyres, fish boxes, fuel canisters (some still full), household debris and, of course, hundreds of single-use plastic bottles. There’s clearly not a single source for what gets washed up but much comes from upstream. Research shows around 80% of the waste we find on our beaches comes from inland, waterways being a major route.
In the coming weeks, another push will be made to clear the banks north of the road bridge to Scots Float and downriver to the Harbour Master’s office making our beaches cleaner and more attractive to visitors and the river borders safer for wildlife and livestock.
Thanks are due to organisers Andy Dinsdale of Rye Bay Beachcombing, and Sarah Warry of the Old Borough Arms, and to the tireless volunteers who have given their free time and to Councillors Sally-Ann Hart and Keith Glazier for their support.
The rubbish is to be taken away but there may be need for wheelbarrows and strong people to help move it to the collection point, so if there are any people who want to be part of a fresh air gym come along and join in – please email strandliner@me.com.
Meantime, we can all do our bit. If you find some trash, pick it up and bin it. And, please, let’s all switch to reusable water containers. 1 million single-use plastic bottles are manufactured every minute – and many of those will finish up the ocean!
Editors note: Following the news last week that Salts Farm Shop had offered to refill plastic bottles with water, we hear this week that the Queens Head in Landgate is also offering this service – particularly appropriate as it is the venue during scallop week for Rye Bay Crew and sea shanties. Hopefully their example might be followed by other local shops, pubs and restaurants. It would be especially good if Jempson’s, as probably the main seller of plastic bottles and other containers in Rye could also be persuaded to join in and help to turn the tide on plastic.
Photos: Andy Dinsdale
Image Credits: Andy Dinsdale .