Litter pick at White Park Bay
Last week Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust (CCGHT) were joined by volunteers and partners for a successful litter pick at White Park Bay. 20 community volunteers worked hard to clean up the beach and its stunning dunes, collecting numerous bags of rubbish. White Park Bay is a jewel of our coastline located within the Causeway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is hugely popular with residents and visitors alike but unfortunately, like in many other coastal areas, litter can be an issue.
Nikki Maguire, Projects Manager from Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust said:
‘It is disappointing that some people litter our spectacular coastline. I encourage everyone to leave no trace when enjoying the outdoors to help protect these
stunning landscapes for everyone.’
Volunteers collected disposable barbeques, plastic and glass bottles, snack wrappers, broken glass, rope, wipes and bags of dog foul. In 2019, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful recorded an average of 508 items of litter per 100 metres on NI’s beaches -with the most common types of litter being pieces of plastic, polystyrene, string and cord.
North Coast World Earth, a community led organisation, joined the event. North Coast World Earth is an educational, environmental awareness campaign and action group. This involves communities across the Causeway Coast and Glens area taking action and raising awareness about pollution and the impact that this is having on our environment.
Gavin Wallace, chairperson of the group, said: ‘It was great for North Coast World Earth to support this event. The types of litter pollution found could easily have been taken home by those who left it behind them. Please everyone take your litter home with you and dispose of it responsibly.’
Thanks to the National Trust North Coast Team and all the community volunteers who gave up their time to help clean up our coastline.
If you would like more information on future volunteering and other events and activities follow the Causeway Coast AONB and North Coast World Earth Facebook pages.