The ‘Wales Coast Path Clean Up’

In preparation for the launch of the Wales Coast Path on 5 May 2012, Keep Wales Tidy organised events to clean as much of the path as possible of any unwanted litter whilst at the same time showcasing the fantastic Welsh coastline

The ‘Wales Coast Path Clean Up’ took place over the weekend of 27–29 April 2012 and Keep Wales Tidy, along with local community groups, organised events along the whole length of the 870 mile footpath. As Wrexham is a landlocked county I had to do a bit of travelling to take part therefore I travelled to Porth Neigwl /Hell’s Mouth on the amazing Lleyn Peninsula to help with a beach clean organised by Lee Oliver who is the Keep Wales Tidy Project Officer for Gwynedd.

Over the space of 4 hours 20 volunteers collected an amazing 2 tonnes of litter 95% of which was composed of plastic from the four corners of the globe. Many of the volunteers present were quick to point out that the next high tide or storm will quickly replenish the amount of litter on the beach at Porth Neigwl /Hell’s Mouth in preparation for the next beach clean! Perhaps one day communities across the globe (as this is without doubt a worldwide issue) will come to realise that we can’t keep treating the oceans as a dumping ground, a case of out of site out of mind