I see litter in the Sea Holly! #litterrantreport

Essex has some wonderful natural beaches such as the stones on Mersea Island and the sand in Clacton but in Jaywick the beach is covered in unique and spikey Sea Holly...prefect for trapping litter it turns out. (thanks Vanessa for the inspiration)

Of course our Essex coastline needs looking after as much as any other because no matter how affluent the area, people drop and leave litter. We could spend hours debating why people think this is OK or whether they think about it at all but one theory could be based on the amount of empty bottles and cans of alcohol we found! Alcohol and making good decisions are not friends! Other notable finds on the beach today included a pair of purple thrilly knickers, birthday balloons, a trampoline, a bike wheel and a few 1980's mars bar wrappers. Plastic will of course out live humans by 910 years in some cases (if we live to a ripe old age of 90). That makes me wonder why food, a consumable product that rots after a while, needs to be wrapped in something that lasts between 500 to 1000 years? Weird right?

So litter picking, or plogging as some like to call it these days, like many tasks is one that councils and charities hope not to have to do one day. Will that happen in our life time or perhaps in the lifetimes of the plastic we (humans) pollute the planet with? Maybe now is a good time to apologise on behalf of our species to the plants, insects, birds, mammals and all sea creatures who suffer due to our laziness and lack of environmental responsibility.

Perhaps the fact that in less than an hour and a half 5 of us picked 9 black sacks full of litter will inspire readers to take their rubbish home. To bust a popular myth it is worth saying that the council are not paid to clean up your mess but it does cost them money that could be better spent elsewhere. Tendring District Council in this case are sending out an extra refuse collection truck to pick up the bin bags we have left for them.

A fantastic socially distanced job making a small stretch of lovely beach a bit more beautiful.