Sure Cobo Beach cleaners: Jan Vaudin in front, and behind from left to right: Marina Fulgoni, Joe Inder, Jon Sowerby, Pierre Le Marre and Ned Meinke (click image to expand - image courtesy of Sure)

Volunteers from Sure collected 15 bags of rubbish when the team Spring-cleaned Cobo beach.

As part of Sure’s new community project on the last Friday of each month, staff will be clearing rubbish from one of the island’s beaches.

Amongst the items collected at the first beach clean by the 27 staff were car parts, rubber gloves, wellies, fishing hooks, a crab pot, deodorant bottles, building rubble and sweet wrappers. Staff from the business’s two sites came together for the task.

Sure chief executive Eddie Saints said the staff at Sure wanted to give something back to the community.

‘We were surprised how much rubbish we found in our first beach clean. We are very privileged to have such beautiful beaches all around us and we hope that our efforts will benefit islanders, make the environment safer for the wildlife that inhabit it and be another way for Sure to give something back to the community we are so pleased to serve,’ he said.

Sure cleans Cobo Beach with the help of Lois Saunders and Dave Saunders (click image to expand - image courtesy of Sure)

As one of the largest companies on the island and as the business’s facilities have grown Sure has become one of Guernsey’s top consumers of power.

‘We make every effort to use power efficiently through the use of low power base sites and the installation of energy efficient equipment but we wanted to do more to offset our environmental impact and complement our existing green initiatives,’ said Mr Saints.

The weekly beach clean has been approved by the States of Guernsey Environment Department.

Staff were given Sure branded tabards and supplied with bags and gloves and the company’s health and safety officer ensured that all rubbish was disposed off in the appropriate way.

Aurigny staff who took part in the Guernsey beach cleaning initiative (click image to expand - image courtesy of Aurigny)

Aurigny employees helped keep Guernsey’s west coast beaches rubbish-free with a community beach cleaning initiative on Tuesday 8 May 2012.

Due to the closure of the Guernsey Airport runway on 8 and 9 May 2012, approximately 75 staff took part in team building and community activities.

“As a company we have a number of staff working differing shift patterns which means it is difficult to get everyone together at one time. The runway closure on Tuesday 8 May has enabled us to bring staff from across the business together to take part in a beach clean for a few hours,” said Aurigny managing director, Malcolm Hart.

Six groups of Aurigny staff headed to various beaches along the coast from L’Eree to Port Soif armed with gloves and bin bags and collected any rubbish they found along the way.

Sure Cobo Beach cleaners: Jan Vaudin in front and behind from left to right: Marina Fulgoni, Joe Inder, Jon Sowerby, Pierre Le Marre and Ned Meinke (click image to expand - image courtesy of Sure)

Wellington boots, fishing equipment, rubber gloves and even part of a plane from World War II have been found by Sure staff as they clean island beaches.

Earlier this year, Cable & Wireless Communications launched the Sure Community Foundation and as well as giving money to worthy causes, staff were given time off on the last Friday of each month to make a difference to the island.

Over the last six months, Sure staff from both of the company’s sites came together to clean the sea shore at Cobo, Vazon, Saints, Portelet, Pembroke and L’Eree.

“We are so lucky to have some really lovely beaches around Guernsey and it’s such a shame when their beauty is spoilt by rubbish,” said Karen Jagger from the Sure Community Foundation.

“We thought a regular beach clean was a great way for staff from both our sites to get together and do something which physically benefits the island.”

Over the six months, more than 50 bags of rubbish was collected which contained broken fishing pots, builders’ rubble, wellington boots, fishing rope, crisp packets and general household rubbish.

“It was amazing to see the wide range of things we found, some of which had been dropped and some of which had obviously been washed up. The most unusual find was at Saints where we found part of a plane from the war,” she said.

Mrs Jagger confirmed that staff would be continuing the beach cleans in 2013.

Pembroke beach, L’Ancresse, Guernsey (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

The States of Guernsey Environment Department is promoting four weekends of beach cleans for volunteers in 2013.

The first one takes place on Sunday 28 April 2013 starting at 11 am at L’Ancresse.

This is the Marine Conservation Society’s Big Beach Clean up which is sponsored by Marks & Spencer and will take no more than two hours.

This is a new event for Guernsey and everyone is welcome to come along and help out with the beach clean and a survey of the litter found.

Please give the Environment Services Unit a call on 717200 by 5 pm Friday 26 April 2013 if you plan to take part.

Gloves will be provided and it’s helpful if people can bring along a sturdy carrier bag or bag for life to put rubbish in.

Make a date in your diary for the 2013 Guernsey Coastal Clean Up weekends which are going ahead on the 13 and 14 July and 20 and 21 July.

Anyone wanting to take part can contact the Environment Department and choose the beach they would like to clean.

There’s no survey with this event – we just want to get the beaches in top condition for the summer holidays.

Finally the annual Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch event is going ahead from 20 to 23 September 2013 inclusive.

This is now in its 19th year and the surveys over the years have given valuable information on the volumes of litter found around Britain’s beaches and how some types of litter – particularly plastics – have increased since the campaign began.

Roger Domaille, Minister for the Environment, said “Guernsey’s beaches are amongst the best in the world and I think most of us appreciate just how lucky we are to live here.”

“Our tides mean that marine litter can wash up twice a day and removing it promptly keeps our beaches cleaner and safer for everyone, as well as protecting our wildlife,” he said.

Deputy Roger Domaille, Guernsey’s Minister Environment Minister (click to expand – ©RLLord)

“There are many people who quietly pick up litter as they walk their dog or just enjoy a stroll around the coast and we very much appreciate their help.”

Anyone who would like to join in with the event on 28th April 2013 will be very welcome – its one of the easiest things we can do to help look after our island,” Deputy Domaille said.

People interested in taking part in one of the beach clean ups are welcome to contact the Environment Department (Environment Services Unit) for more information on 717200.

A litter pick-up on the sea shore of Champ Rouget, on the path north of the Chouet tea rooms, Vale found eight ‘sea wash balls‘ from the common whelk, Buccinum undatum, three ray (rajidae) mermaid’s purses (egg case), and one cuttlebone from Sepia officinalis.

Eight ‘sea wash balls’ from whelks, three ray egg cases, and one cuttlebone were found during a beach clean on the sea shore at Champ Rouget, Chouet, Vale, Guernsey on 28 April 2013 (click image to expand)

A similar beach clean on the same stretch of shore on 17 February 2013 revealed only three mermaid’s purses and no whelk ‘sea wash balls’.

The common whelk, Buccinum undatum, usually lives on a sea floor of soft sediment. It is one of the larger marine snails in British waters.

Male and female whelks copulate between October and May depending on location in British Isle marine waters, and eggs are deposited in capsules that are glued together to form ‘sea wash balls’. These can be up to 50 cm by 25 cm in size.

‘Sea wash balls’ derive their name from their use by early mariners as a substitute for a sponge.

A ‘sea wash ball’ mass can contain as many as 2000 capsules, which may have been produced by more than one female, and each capsule can contain up to 1000 eggs, which are mostly food eggs, as usually only three to ten juvenile whelks emerge from each egg capsule after a development period that may be up to nine months.

The empty egg capsule masses are torn from their attachment and wash up on our shore where they can be found in the strand-line at this time of year.

RBC Wealth Management staff collected 12 bags of litter from the Belle Greve Bay shore during their Blue Water Day activities on 14 June 2013.

Jockathon Pettitt of Take3 Guernsey stands by some of the litter he helped collect with RBC Wealth Management employees (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Besides the 12 bags of mixed litter, RBC Wealth Management employees also removed a hawser and a pallet from the beach.

On one end of the beach there were three interrupted lines of fragmenting blue plastic sticking out of the sand.

This edge of blue plastic sheeting is still embedded in the gravelly sand on the Belle Greve Bay shore (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

More than half an hour of digging allowed one of the blue plastic sheets to be pulled free of the beach.

Blue plastic sheeting that had begun to fragment removed from the gravelly sand on the Belle Greve Bay shore (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

A trowel will help enormously to remove the remaining plastic sheets embedded in the beach.

While walking along the beach collecting plastic jugs, forks, cigarette lighters, plastic coated cables, fishing line and netting, and aluminium cans in various states of disintegration, I met Jockathon Pettitt of Take3 Guernsey with Rachel Burton who had joined the RBC beach cleaning effort while also walking Rachel’s dogs.

Jockathon Pettitt and Rachel Burton with her dogs and bags containing litter collected from the Belle Greve Bay shore on 14 June 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Take3 Guernsey has galvanised many people to pick up litter and report their activities to the Take3 Guernsey Facebook page. As their Facebook page states “the ‘Take 3′ message is simple: take three pieces of rubbish with you when you leave the beach, waterway or… anywhere you visit outdoors and you have made a difference.”

The group is organising several Guernsey beach cleans and other projects in the coming months.

A quick litter pick-up from the Belle Greve Bay shore opposite Carey House on the morning of 15 June 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

RBC Wealth Management staff did not have time to collect litter from the entire length of the shore of Belle Greve Bay, and beach litter accumulates quickly, so more litter pick-ups to keep the Belle Greve shore clean and safe from sharp objects will be required throughout the year.

A close-up of various items collected from the Belle Greve Bay shore. (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

(from left to right) Kiran Tauckoor, Hevin, Nirvan, Onella, Indira and Natasha Tauckoor help clear up the Belle Greve Bay sea shore of litter (click image to expand)

Belle Greve Bay has benefited from a much-needed beach clean up, thanks to willing and enthusiastic volunteers from RBC Wealth Management.

RBC Wealth Management employees, aided by family and friends, spent their time after work cleaning up the beach to mark RBC Blue Water Day – a day dedicated to highlighting the objectives and achievements of the RBC Blue Water Project, and engaging RBC employees worldwide in activities that help raise awareness of urban water issues.

Working in conjunction with the Marine Biology Section of La Société Guernesiaise, the group cleaned the beach of litter and also recorded what was found, as part of the UK Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch programme.

The volunteers were tasked with identifying mermaid’s purses (skate egg cases) and cuttlefish bones to help with local research into their numbers.

They also recorded non-native animals and seaweeds that colonise the Guernsey shore.

Jessi Jenning, Marine Biology Section Secretary for La Société Guernesiaise said “beach clean-ups are an excellent opportunity for island residents to get involved in keeping our sea shore beautiful, and also learn about our rich marine life.”

(Left to right) Ian Partington, Irene Dooley, Matt Adams, Henry Partington and Joe Adams collected bags of litter from the Belle Greve Bay sea shore on 14 June 2013 (click image to expand – image courtesy of RBC Wealth Management)

“Volunteer events like this are an important part of what we do, and we are hugely grateful to everyone from RBC Wealth Management as well as their friends and family,” she said.

“They had already put in a full day in at the office and then generously given up their spare time in the evening to help us.”

Francis Binney, Environmental Officer at RBC Wealth Management, said “it was great to see our employees getting involved with the beach clean, and take an active interest in the health and appearance of the beach.”

“Water is a precious but scarce resource, and we hope to raise awareness of the different ways people can effect change, both in their homes and in their natural surroundings,” he said.

Janice Dockerill of the States of Guernsey Environment Department handing out gloves and plastic bags at Pembroke for the beach clean on 28 April 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

The next Bailiwick of Guernsey Coastal Clean Up organised by the States of Guernsey Environment Department will be held on the weekend of 20 and 21 July 2013.

The first Guernsey Coastal Clean Up in 2010 was part of the world-wide celebrations for the International Year of Biodiversity.

Families, companies, schools and voluntary organisations are being invited to get involved by helping to clean up litter from their favourite stretch of coastline.

People can choose to clean beaches or coastal grasslands – all that’s needed are sturdy gloves and plastic sacks.

The week-end clean up event will get the coastline in good condition just before the school summer holidays.

This will benefit many families and visitors who enjoy a day at the beach but will also help provide a better habitat for Guernsey’s sea birds, particularly waders such oyster catchers, dunlin, turnstones, and curlew.

dunlin, Calidris alpina, searching for food in Belle Greve Bay on 11 February 2009 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Local ornithologists who ring sea birds regularly come across nests which include fishing net and plastic cord.

Bird pellets also show evidence that plastic items such as pieces of pen and plastic bag have been picked up and eaten by sea birds.

Some of the small pieces of plastic found on the beach at Champ Rouget, Chouet on the 28 April 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Deputy Roger Domaille, Minister for the States of Guernsey Environment Department, said “the Coastal Clean Up campaign has proved very successful.”

“We’ve been very pleased that people have wanted to support it.”

“We hope many people will want to get involved again this year to keep Guernsey’s beautiful beaches at their best,” he said.

Each tide brings in plastic bottles, polystyrene and fishing litter to our shores but it would be a major step forward if everyone going to the beach remembered to go prepared with a bag.”

“That way they can take their own litter away with them and, if possible, pick up some that’s been washed up as well and put in the coastal bins,” Deputy Domaille said.

If you would like to get involved in this year’s Coastal Clean Up please visit the States of Guernsey beaches website or call the Environment Services Unit on 717200 or email env@gov.gg to let the Department know which beach you would like to clear of litter.

In mid-January 2014, Karen Marsh, Take3 Guernsey member, instigated a beach clean by posting on the group’s Facebook page to ask if anyone was organising one.

The Guernsey volunteer group takes its name from the non-profit Take3 organisation founded in Australia in 2009, which “asks everyone to simply take three pieces of rubbish with you when visiting a beach, and raising awareness of the consequences of plastic debris on the world’s oceans.”

Rachel Burton replied to Karen that Petit Port beach on Guernsey’s south coast was heavily littered from washed-up debris after the strong storms of early January 2014 and needed to be cleaned.

The beach at Petit Port on 19 January 2014 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Jan Dockerill of the States of Guernsey Environment Department suggested that volunteer litter pickers meet on the beach at 11 am on Sunday 19 January 2014 to begin the clean-up.

Some of the plastic beach litter prior to the 19 January beach clean that had been collected and placed behind the chain link fence that protects beach visitors from rock falls at Petit Port. (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Some Take3 Guernsey members visited the Petit Port sea shore prior to the scheduled beach clean to access the volume of rubbish, collect what litter they could, and store it behind a chain-link fence that protects visitors from rock falls from the cliff above.

Although the chain-link fence prevents rubbish put behind it from washing out to sea, Jan Dockerill advised against storing the beach litter there because of the risk of rock fall, which the chain link fence is designed to catch.

Petit Port beach clean in progress on 19 January 2014 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

She advised in future to store the litter to the east of the lower steps on a raised grassy area.

The beach at Petit Port is accessible from the cliff path by descending over 290 steps.

There was a suggestion to remove the litter by boat, but this was determined to be too risky, and there was nowhere for a boat to take the rubbish for disposal.

The railings leading to the right of the image outline the direction of the steps to the top of the cliff above Petit Port (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

So the only way to remove the beach litter was by hauling it up the steps.

Plastic litter lying on piles of seaweed at the top of the beach at Petit Port (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Nylon rope and netting had to be separated from piles of seaweed lying on the Petit Port sea shore (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Some volunteers climbed the steps four or five times while other volunteers carefully cleared litter from the beach by going through piles of seaweed.

Airy Cleere hauls two bags of beach litter over 290 steps to the top of the cliff above Petit Port (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Deputy Yvonne Burford hauled some bags of litter up the steps with her son and commented on the excellent workout it provided. It got ones heart pumping and was a good workout for the legs.

Caroline Drake reaches the top of the Petit Port steps with a bag of litter from the sea shore (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

It took many pairs of hands to haul all the beach litter up the steps.

Some of the bundles of knotted rope were so heavy they had to be cut into smaller bundles so they could be lifted up the stairs.

Alicja Chrzanowska made several trips up the Petit Port steps with bags of litter from Petit Port (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Jan Dockerill, commenting on BBC Guernsey on 20 January 2014, said that with the prevailing south-westerly winds, Petit Port is a catch pit for seaborne litter.

She estimated that about 50 bags of litter had been collected from the beach along with plastic fish boxes and other plastic containers.

Philip Haynes, with Beatrice Haynes in pink; and Amelie Le Prevost in front of Joanne Le Prevost, took part in the Petit Port beach cleaning operation (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Christopher Mourant thought the litter brought to the top of the cliff probably weighed over one tonne.

The litter included plastic bottles – some of domestic origin and some commercial containers. Jan Dockerill said that some of the litter appeared to originate from the land where litter had been blown out to sea, and then brought back to shore.

There were also large numbers of smaller pieces of plastic such as bottle tops and stirrers, and a number of shotgun cartridges.

(left to right) Adrian Marsh (black Atec t-shirt), Oliver Marsh (blue boiler suit), Jon Le Tocq behind Karen Marsh (grey Atec sweatshirt), Jon Pettitt (yellow sweatshirt), Chris Hudson (sunglasses), Martyn Tolcher (red top), Jan Dockerill (green top), Ramsey and Deputy Yvonne Burford (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

But the predominant litter was from the fishing industry, which Jan Dockerill estimated accounted for 85% to 90% of the litter found at Petit Port.

There were fish boxes of French origin and a large quantity of netting and Nylon rope and twine.

Anne Sandwith, in light blue, who was actively involved in the Petit Port beach clean, joins the photographed group (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Some of this debris was damaged fishing gear such as a broken crab pot or pieces of a torn net, and some of it could have washed over board, such as a fisherman’s glove or a fish box, but there was also large quantities of litter that was most likely intentionally discarded over the side of a boat.

Jon Le Tocq of Storm Force Fitness begins the climb up the step from Petit Port beach carrying three bags full of litter on his shoulders (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Fishermen repair torn nets at sea. To repair nets, fishermen cut off short lengths of Nylon twine, which may be discarded into the sea, where it achieves neutral buoyancy below the surface, before washing up on a shore.

(left to right) Jon Pettitt, Ryan Le Guilcher, Pete Johnson, Joanne Le Prevost take the last of the litter from Petit Port sea shore (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Throwing litter overboard is illegal in European seas.

Beach cleaners and other sea shore litter collectors need to contact fishermen associations and other maritime organisations to ask them to contact their members about the maritime litter problem to encourage people at sea not to throw any litter overboard.

There is photographic evidence that marine litter causes marine life injuries and fatalities at sea. It does enter the food chain, and it can cause injury to humans visiting the shore.

Christopher Mourant observed the pile of litter brought up over 290 steps from the Petit Port sea shore (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Jan Dockerill arranged for States Works to remove the litter from the top of the steps by the cliff path above Petit Port on Monday morning.

The collection of debris brought to the top of the Petit Port steps by volunteers and removed by States Works on Monday 20 January 2014 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Less than twenty-four hours after the beach clean, more debris had washed up on Petit Port.

Litter collected from the beach at Petit Port on 20 January 2014 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Guernsey’s sea shore is impacted by sea borne litter and domestic litter all year long, which is why Take3 Guernsey exists to try and keep Guernsey’s sea shore as litter free as possible.

(please click on image to open and download as a PDF file on your computer)

A beach clean has been organsied for Rocquaine Bay from 9 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. on Sunday 21 September 2014.

This beach clean has been registered with the UK’s Marine Conservation Society and data on the litter collected will be contributed to the MCS national database.

Please contact Vanessa Crispini-Adams on 07781 422 188 or email vcrispini@cwgsy.net for additional information about this beach clean.

The annual Marine Conservation Society beach clean weekend occurs this year on the 19 and 20 September.

Guernsey volunteers will pick-up litter from Saints Bay from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday 19 September and from Rocquaine Bay from 2 to 3 p.m. on Sunday 20 September 2015.

A volunteer beach clean is also being organised for Fermain Bay on Sunday 20 September.

Please download the PDF file to your computer for details.

click image to expand

Litter accumulates on Guernsey beaches from two principal sources.

Marine borne litter washes up on the Guernsey shore from the shipping industry, the fishing industry, and run-off from land, and litter is also added to our beaches by a few careless people visiting the shore.

(click on image to open PDF file of flyer)

To showcase the type and amount of litter found on the Guernsey sea shore, Elizabeth College Art department in conjunction with the Marine Biology Section of La Societe Guernesiaise invites people to participate in creating a community art project out of litter and rubbish collected from Guernsey’s sea shore.

The creation of the art work will happen during the BeanJar Jamboree and Nature Festival at Les Cotils, St Peter Port from midday to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 14 October 2017.

Aurigny employees helped keep Guernsey’s west coast beaches rubbish-free with a community beach cleaning initiative on Tuesday 8 May 2012.

Due to the closure of the Guernsey Airport runway on 8 and 9 May 2012, approximately 75 staff took part in team building and community activities.

“As a company we have a number of staff working differing shift patterns which means it is difficult to get everyone together at one time. The runway closure on Tuesday 8 May has enabled us to bring staff from across the business together to take part in a beach clean for a few hours,” said Aurigny managing director, Malcolm Hart.

Six groups of Aurigny staff headed to various beaches along the coast from L’Eree to Port Soif armed with gloves and bin bags and collected any rubbish they found along the way.