Cubs clear their beach of litter
The impact polluted beaches have on our biodiversity and the danger the trash poses to young children was a need we wanted to address.
As a Pack, we ended our first term with a beach outing and cleanup., tying into the Litter Less Campaign. Together with 33 Cubs and siblings, 6 adult leaders and parents we cleaned up a stretch of beach (700m) around the tidal pools in the Strand Community. This part of the beach is frequently used by families with young children.
We met at 16:15 and divided the Cubs into Sixes, each with a bag .
We explained what the Litter Less campaign was about and then we spread out and covered the beach to the water line. It was low tide at 18:40, so there was a wide stretch of beach to clean. We started at the tidal pool and covered about 700m of beach (including the return walk which was just as productive).
We filled 8 plastic bags (amounting to 2 black bags) and sorted out recyclables later. The Cubs were amazed at the amount of litter collected as the beach looked fairly clean from afar! Glass, cigarette butts, microplastics and fishing line made up the majority of our collections.
39 people were involved in the cleanup of this popular stretch of beach in the community. The Cubs were encouraged to always carry a bag to the beach to continue to clean it up at every visit.
We learnt that even though the beach looked fairly clean at first, when you start looking it was far from clean.
We also learnt that if we all endeavor to keep our own piece of the world clean and litter free, we can make a big impact and protect all who inhabit our world.
