Environmentalist horrified at plan to give out plastic bottles at beach clean

5:00pm Saturday 12th May 2012 in News By Diana Henderson

DOING HIS BIT: Steve Trewhella at one of the beach cleans DOING HIS BIT: Steve Trewhella at one of the beach cleans

A PURBECK environmentalist has persuaded the organisers of a national beach clean to drop plans to hand out bottles of water to thousands of volunteers.

Steve Trewhella, from Furzebrook near Wareham, was horrified when he discovered that more than 5,000 volunteers cleaning up 50 bays in the Big Beach Clean Up were due to receive a Marks and Spencer snack including bottled water.

He said the event could have been responsible for creating more single-use bottles than its supporters collected.

However, following protests, the Marine Conservation Society, which organised the event, has changed arrangements for the May 11-13 event, which comes from a partnership with the firm.

“Our beaches are blighted with plastic bottles – we have picked up more than 1,500 this year on Dorset’s beaches,” said Steve.

In April a joint Dorset Wildlife Trust and Surfers Against Sewage clean up of World Heritage Site Jurassic Coast’s Worbarrow Bay saw volunteers pick up 163kg of litter including 317 plastic drinks bottles.

“I find it appalling that an environmental organisation which campaigns against single-use plastic, could end up producing more plastic litter than it picks up on the cleans,” said Steve.

He said even though the used plastic bottles would be taken away for recycling, it gave the wrong message.

“The thought of M&S staff walking off a beach with sackfuls of plastic bottles, when the volunteers have spent the morning picking the same things up from the beach, is ironic at best.”

Samantha Fanshawe, MCS chief executive said: “Steve and others have highlighted a valid concern that MCS should have identified as an issue earlier on in the planning stages of the event.”

She said that they had since contacted all registered volunteers asking them to take their own water.

“Bottled water will still be available as an option on request, but we’ll ask that these are re-used by volunteers as part of the condition of accepting it, and all packaging from the lunch will be taken away for recycling.”

She added they were proud of their relationship with M&S, which gave an unprecedented opportunity to raise awareness.

Comments(33)

ShuttleX says...
6:12pm Sat 12 May 12

And these people wonder why others think they are loony.

Report this post »

dvdr says...
7:02pm Sat 12 May 12

My wife belongs to a choir, who regularly glug on baby bottles of water during concerts.

How unprofessional! It looks awful! But do they know? Seemingly not, and their choir master is also oblivious.

How did the whole world manage before the fashion for sucking on water bottles in public arrived?

Report this post »

Old Colonial says...
8:13pm Sat 12 May 12

The fad is obscene in a world where millions cannot get safe water for subsistence requirements. It has the same effect as the sight of desperate smokers outside offices and shops sucking on their nicotine fix.

Report this post »

djkent says...
3:21am Sun 13 May 12

what a **** idiot! The people getting the bottles of water to keep them hydrated during cleaning our beaches are hardly likely to be then slinging their own bottles on the shore are they! The councils should be picking the litter from the beaches, not volunteers, we pay them enough in tax.

Report this post »

MikeFrench says...
3:47am Sun 13 May 12

Everybody needs to keep hydrated and plastic bottles on the beach are far better than glass ones............

Report this post »

wallydown says...
6:47am Sun 13 May 12

Tree huggers. honestly ,if they had it their way we'd all be wearing clothes made from hessian sacking , wooden shoes and be carrying water in a container made from an animals bladder, dont they just get up your nose ,its these sorts that have taken health and safety to ridiculous levels,interfere in every aspect of family life and have stripped this country of discipline and respect because their ideals are a mockery and bear no relation to real life ,its pathetic

Report this post »

manyogie says...
7:32am Sun 13 May 12

Old Colonial wrote:
The fad is obscene in a world where millions cannot get safe water for subsistence requirements. It has the same effect as the sight of desperate smokers outside offices and shops sucking on their nicotine fix.
way off base there Mr, keep to the thread

Report this post »

greggreg says...
9:19am Sun 13 May 12

Don't knock it wallydown. These people are volunteering to clean up the mess left by dirty people like you.

Report this post »

Joe Bloggs2 says...
10:52am Sun 13 May 12

These greens cause so much trouble that perhaps they ought to be banned as a terrorist organisation. In my own case "green" communist types have made trouble for me and the council are now saying that all I can have on my land is lawns and flowers! (no boats or "project vehicles") They seem to think that my garden which is hidden behind high earth banks or hedges should be some kind of amenity for tourists. The reason that I bought this place in the 1970s was its "Detached secluded location not overlooked by any nearby dwelling" but this new council interferes with every-bodies lives. Do they really think that I worked for years and paid the mortgage to buy an amenity for tourists? It was stupid to fight the Cold War when the real communists are at City Hall. Allegedly what started the ball rolling was a scrap metal dealer with pound signs in his eyes. Its absolutely disgusting.

Report this post »

Joe Bloggs2 says...
10:53am Sun 13 May 12

These greens cause so much trouble that perhaps they ought to be banned as a terrorist organisation. In my own case "green" communist types have made trouble for me and the council are now saying that all I can have on my land is lawns and flowers! (no boats or "project vehicles") They seem to think that my garden which is hidden behind high earth banks or hedges should be some kind of amenity for tourists. The reason that I bought this place in the 1970s was its "Detached secluded location not overlooked by any nearby dwelling" but this new council interferes with every-bodies lives. Do they really think that I worked for years and paid the mortgage to buy an amenity for tourists? It was stupid to fight the Cold War when the real communists are at City Hall. Allegedly what started the ball rolling was a scrap metal dealer with pound signs in his eyes. Its absolutely disgusting.

Report this post »

penhale says...
12:32pm Sun 13 May 12

MikeFrench wrote:
Everybody needs to keep hydrated and plastic bottles on the beach are far better than glass ones............
Couldn't agree more, glass bottles caused so many injuries years ago.
I think most of these environmentalists are a bunch of nut jobs.

Report this post »

uvox44 says...
2:11pm Sun 13 May 12

don't they disgust you all these green pinko types who give up their own time to clear up the mess left by others so it doesn't end up fouling the oceans! i mean what is the matter with these loonies?! Don't they know they could be shopping or in the pub or watching t.v.. something that wouldn't see the environment being improved at all- you wonder what goes on in there brains! I mean if everyone actually started caring about the wider world instead of their own selfish interests what sort of world would we live in! I ask you!
ok seriously now-i do hope the people posting along the lines of the pathetic drivel above are just sad trolls who do so because they haven't got the imagination to have "fun" in better ways, if not we really are living in dark times...

Report this post »

wallydown says...
2:43pm Sun 13 May 12

greggreg wrote:
Don't knock it wallydown. These people are volunteering to clean up the mess left by dirty people like you.
Sorry to disappoint you but I dont do that, I am quite capable of dealing with my own mess but i dont see what point this guy is on about ,anyone on this task is going to take their own rubbish away and they will certainly want some refreshment and water has to be in a container does it matter if they are given one or take their own. ?

Report this post »

MngsMnr says...
3:18pm Sun 13 May 12

Those of you who think it's a joke that people like Steve and myself care about our environment should stick your heads back up your *rses, because that's the kind of sh*te we're having to pick up. And why should the council use our taxes to clear up after the dregs of society who drop rubbish rather than put it in a bin. Apes peel a banana and drop the skin. And we think we've evolved into something more intelligent. If the comments on this board are anything to go by some of us have evolved into ignorant t*ssers.

Report this post »

Joe Bloggs2 says...
3:30pm Sun 13 May 12

I travelled on a ferry in the Mediterranean several years ago and was surprised to see their dirty habits. What they did as soon as the ship was out of sight of land was to start dumping bin bags over the side. The bloke doing it had a chefs hat so presumably it was kitchen waste. Anyhow a trail of bin bags about a mile long was left behind. When such people regard the oceans as the biggest dustbin in the world there does not seem to be a lot of point in banning beach cleaners from being given a plastic bottle of water. When volunteers are giving up their own time for a good cause the bottle ban is basically a snub. At this rate they will soon be wanting volunteers to pay for the privilege of cleaning the beach. In the good old days Borstal Boys used to be conscripted into doing such jobs and IMHO it would be a good idea if such schemes were re-introduced. The problem however is that it is alleged that council workers are afraid of people taking their jobs. Duh!

Report this post »

Bournefre says...
6:46pm Sun 13 May 12

Does this man really expect people who have given up their time to pick discarded plastic bottles off the beach to leave their own plastic bottles behind them? And if he does, what is the difference between providing water to volunteers and getting them to bring their own plastic bottles?

Report this post »

seahorse steve says...
6:46pm Sun 13 May 12

Oh dear, it would appear there are some that think I'm a chunky sweater , hand knitted sandal wearing tree hugger, wrong as always , the point is , single use plastic such as carrier bags and plastic bottles are one of the biggest threats our seas face, a conservation charity who campaign against single use plastic should not be handing it out at beach cleans or any other events, I thought Rednecks only lived in the states, looks like I was also wrong, '' green communist types '', '' terrorists'', '' green pinko '' , only trying to stop 5000 plastic bottles ending up in the environment, not blowing up a school bus, get a grip.

Report this post »

seahorse steve says...
6:47pm Sun 13 May 12

Oh dear, it would appear there are some that think I'm a chunky sweater , hand knitted sandal wearing tree hugger, wrong as always , the point is , single use plastic such as carrier bags and plastic bottles are one of the biggest threats our seas face, a conservation charity who campaign against single use plastic should not be handing it out at beach cleans or any other events, I thought Rednecks only lived in the states, looks like I was also wrong, '' green communist types '', '' terrorists'', '' green pinko '' , only trying to stop 5000 plastic bottles ending up in the environment, not blowing up a school bus, get a grip.

Report this post »

madras says...
7:41pm Sun 13 May 12

no mention of gratitude to M&S for supporting this and feeding the volunteers. ok, so plastic bottled water is unnecessary, but why go to the press about it?

'well done' to all the volunteers though. And M&S!

Report this post »

seahorse steve says...
7:52pm Sun 13 May 12

I think its more a PR stunt , than a high street giant that produces tonnes of throw away plastic a week, wanting to save the Planet, I say again, an environmental organisation that campaigns against bottled water , should not hand it out at their own events , we do not need water in bottles , we are lucky enough to have it at home, this isn't an attack on the people who cleaned the beach, but it is an epic oversight by the Marine Conservation Society, and needed to be addressed .

Report this post »

wallydown says...
8:55pm Sun 13 May 12

seahorse steve wrote:
I think its more a PR stunt , than a high street giant that produces tonnes of throw away plastic a week, wanting to save the Planet, I say again, an environmental organisation that campaigns against bottled water , should not hand it out at their own events , we do not need water in bottles , we are lucky enough to have it at home, this isn't an attack on the people who cleaned the beach, but it is an epic oversight by the Marine Conservation Society, and needed to be addressed .
Eco-bore ,people will always drop rubbish because they are lazy and the sea will dump it on the tideline .if its your thing to spend your free time picking this stuff up thats very commendable but do you have to preach to others who frankly dont give two hoots about the enviroment.
its all a bit perverse to be improving our enviroment when the people who run this country have our young girls and guys out in the arab world being killed for purely political reasons because they are fighting americas war. this is a future concern that we should not be involved in ,its this conflict that has contributed to world debt ,who trully wants to spend a lifetime in conflict ? A bit of rubbish washed up on a beach,hardly a crisis when people in third world countries live and die in their own filth and seem to lack the common sense to dig a hole and bury the problem as anyone with an ounce of common sense might do ,perhaps your energy would be better used educating these people if your passion is cleaning up the world

Report this post »

spooki says...
9:15pm Sun 13 May 12

I agree with djkent, they're not going to finish their bottled water and sling it over their shoulder are they? It was nice of someone to supply the volunteers with a snack. It probably cost less to do that than to pay council people to pick it all up. The point here is: why should ANYONE have to pick up litter behind others? Why can't people pick up after themselves and not leave the cr@p behind to start with? Thank you to the volunteers who gave up their free time to do the job that shouldn't actually exist in the first place.

Report this post »

Bournefre says...
9:26pm Sun 13 May 12

Plastic bottles are only a problem if they are not disposed of properly, ie recycled; one would expect a team of people who have volunteered to clean up the environment to be more aware of this than anyone. Yes they have water at home, but they're not going to be at home, they're going to be on the beach picking up litter.

Report this post »

davecook says...
9:51pm Sun 13 May 12

I would have liked to see how environmentalists would give out water to people to drink when out cleaning beaches some distance from fresh drinking water taps. The fact that this really nice gesture from Marks and Spencer has been attacked by someone might make them a bit shy of repeating this for any future events that might be organised.

Report this post »

Linguist says...
10:28pm Sun 13 May 12

Bunch of loonies. I wonder if they'd prefer a human being to get dehydrated and transported to hospital rather than that same person having some water to drink. Makes me wonder sometimes, what world these people are in.

Report this post »

Joe Bloggs2 says...
10:49pm Sun 13 May 12

Actually the plastic bottles are extremely useful and the ones made to withstand the pressure of fizzy drinks can be re-used time and time again. They can also be made into funnels, flowerpots and insulators that prevent corrosion when bolting different metals together. The real curse is those throw-away plastic bags which frequently burst halfway across the supermarket car park. They are not fit for purpose. Allegedly the plastic on those bags is loaded with starch so they will bio-degrade within a few weeks.

Report this post »

uvox44 says...
7:06am Mon 14 May 12

wow what fantastic value, must order my new era cap straight away! and all the prices are in dollars! how handy! looks like a trustworthy site to me! doh!

Report this post »

uvox44 says...
10:28am Mon 14 May 12

wallydown-what has the war in afghanistan got to do with cleaning up the environment!? Are you really saying that because people (unlike yourself) actually care about the natural world that they don't care about our soldiers being killed as well?! what a stupid,ignorant thing to suggest!

Report this post »

poolebabe says...
4:13pm Mon 14 May 12

uvox44 wrote:
wallydown-what has the war in afghanistan got to do with cleaning up the environment!? Are you really saying that because people (unlike yourself) actually care about the natural world that they don't care about our soldiers being killed as well?! what a stupid,ignorant thing to suggest!
Agreed. I think it's sad when people don't give a hoot about the environment. They say that people who have a love of the outdoors have no life it seems. I would much rather be out walking in the wilds in my spare time, than sitting watching TV and having my children babysat by games consoles. It doesn't cost me a penny to entertain my children, and they are not materialistic. They enjoy discovering our free natural environment.

I'm sure that environmentalists know more about the damage caused by plastic bottles than the layman. It's not the goodwill gesture that is the problem. It's the production of plastic bottles handed out at this event. Just a little common sense is all that's needed to figure that out.

As for the comments regarding volunteers and paying taxes. I will face palm that one. Everything is someone else's job eh?

Report this post »

seahorse steve says...
8:40pm Mon 14 May 12

Thanks for some common sense among the madness, its a shame that anyone who gives a hoot about the environment that we all have to live in, is seen as a treehugging, left wing loony that wears hand knitted sandals , and then they feel the need to drag up all of the Worlds problems and put them on your doorstep, I can stop 5000 plastic bottles being handed out, I can't stop soldiers being blown up , I too pay taxes, I also dislike the idiots that run this country, but thats all out of my hands .

Report this post »

Joe Bloggs2 says...
1:43am Tue 15 May 12

By the way recycling plastic bottles can be extremely dangerous and I was told about a horrible fatality allegedly somewhere in Cornwall. The venue was a recycling centre where tipper lorries would tip plastic bottles into an enormous industrial shredder. The lorry driver couldn't see properly so the site worker offered to guide him in. Unfortunately the lorry reversed too quickly and too far and the man was knocked into the shredder and shredded. Horrible!

Report this post »

davecook says...
7:21am Tue 15 May 12

Joe Bloggs2 wrote:
By the way recycling plastic bottles can be extremely dangerous and I was told about a horrible fatality allegedly somewhere in Cornwall. The venue was a recycling centre where tipper lorries would tip plastic bottles into an enormous industrial shredder. The lorry driver couldn't see properly so the site worker offered to guide him in. Unfortunately the lorry reversed too quickly and too far and the man was knocked into the shredder and shredded. Horrible!
Was that the fatality where they used 500 matchbox size coffins for the remains.............
...

Report this post »

Joe Bloggs2 says...
1:10pm Tue 15 May 12

Mr Cook, I think that your comment is sick. Someone getting killed in a shredder is not funny and its not a laughing matter. Of course with 20-20 hindsight the unfortunate bloke would have been much better off drawing the dole. There are lots of risky jobs like that, for example I read about a bloke who was sent to clear a blockage of coke in the feed hopper of a blast furnace. He was never seen again. Presumably the coke avalanched into the furnace and the bloke went with it. Another nasty one that I know of was of a bloke inspecting a ship that was in dry-dock. Someone released the anchor which flattened him (a hard hat is not much use against a ten ton anchor) Please spare a thought for all these people who lose their lives by trying to put food on the table. As the punch line of a little ditty written by a Cornish amateur poet goes "Life is just a knackers yard. Dying is easy its the living that's hard".

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree