Last week I teamed up with the Scottish Youth Hostel Association and the Highland Council Ranger Service to clear a remote beach to the south of Gairloch. The beach is next to an old SYHA property, now owned by the Mountain Bothy Association, but requires nearly two hours to walk in from the nearest road! It turned out to be a brilliant day for the walk in- the clouds were low on the hills, but we had great views of Skye, and could even make out Harris in the distance.
A team Beinn Eighe NNR, SYHA and Highland Ranger Service
The beach at Craig, two hours walk from the road
Despite its romote location, the beach was suprisingly full of litter. A lot of this would have been washed ashore, although some had certainly been left by those using the beach. It always saddens me that a small proportion of those who chose to come out to enjoy the “wilderness”, don’t respect it enough to keep it clean for others.
By far the largest proportion of the rubbish was from fishing and fish farms. The nets, lines, containers and other waste found on the beach can have a significant impact on animals in the sea and highlights questions about the impact of these activites, so vital for the regions economy, on the coastal envionment.
Plastic, plastic everywhere. We collected around 30 bags of waste, almost all of it plastic
Above all else we noticed that almost all the rubbish we collected, around 30 sacks full, plus larger items, was plastic. It makes you realise how much we rely on these plastic products that are so slow to degrade. How much cleaner would our beaches be without plastic? Can we use alternatives?