Plastic Clever Salcombe: come along to Paddle and Pick

The founders of Plastic Clever Salcombe are on a mission this summer to raise awareness about microplastics in, on and around Salcombe estuary. Anna Turns explains why she and her daughter are taking to their paddleboard and exploring every creek.

On Friday 8th June 2018, it’s World Ocean’s Day, and also the start of our two-day paddle and pick challenge, covering 22 miles of Salcombe estuary. I’ll be paddleboarding with my six-year-old daughter, Ella, and litter picking as we go, with plenty of help from friends and fellow environmentalists along the way.

Starting at the Hipples at the mouth of the estuary, heading up every creek towards Kingsbridge with the high tide and heading back to finish at South Sands the next day, we’ll be stopping off en route to help fellow litter pickers attending South Devon AONB beach cleans along the way.

In August 2017, when we founded Plastic Clever Salcombe, we initially hoped to sign up a few cafés and restaurants to the Kids Against Plastic plastic clever awards scheme. It’s somewhat snowballed and in nine months we have presented more than 22 local businesses, including Coast and Country Cottages, with plastic clever certificates and window stickers, presented numerous school assemblies and liaised with various festival organisers in Salcombe to help encourage more people to think responsibly about single-use plastics. Word is spreading and even David Attenborough has written back to Ella with kind words of support.

Kids Against Plastic is a national initiative, set up two years ago by sisters Amy and Ella Meek, as Amy, 14, explains: “We want to engage the younger generation with the issue of plastic pollution. It’s an environmental disaster that we’re all growing up experiencing, and one that us kids are going to inherit if we don’t do something about it.” The beauty of the plastic clever philosophy lies in the fact that it isn’t about banning anything – it’s far more empowering than that, according to Ella Meek, 12: “We aren’t forcing people to be plastic free; that’s almost impossible and demotivating for many. That’s why we want people to be plastic clever; a simpler easier and more effective way of using less plastic. It involves cutting out unnecessary plastic and not using the big four polluters (plastic cups and lids straws bottles and bags) and using reusables instead.”

It’s not rocket science and because this campaign is totally child-led, it’s legacy goes far beyond just plastic pollution. All the children we speak to are learning that they have the power to effect change in their community if they really want to, and I have been so inspired by my Ella so far – just seeing how much she wants to protect this estuary is amazing and it just goes to show that little people can make big changes.

Of course, our paddle and pick challenge is not a quick fix clean-up – it’s all about raising awareness about microplastics, highlighting where the hotspots in the estuary are and collecting valuable data from across the whole estuary. We will be GPS-logging the litter we collect via the Plastic Patrol app in order to build up a stronger picture of where plastics end up.

What can you do to help?

Everyone can get involved, either by doing a mini beach clean and logging what you find via the Plastic Patrol app, or joining a South Devon AONB beach clean (Batson Creek, Friday 8th June, 10am and Scoble Point, Saturday 9th June, 10am – meet at Whitestrand for a boat shuttle). For more details, visit www.beplasticclever.co.uk/salcombe and follow @SalcombePlasticClever on Facebook. www.facebook.com/salcombeplasticclever

Coast & Country Cottages receives a Plastic Clever award

Coast & Country Cottages has received a Plastic Clever award, after taking steps to reduce the use of plastic within the business, encouraging staff to cut down on their use of the big four polluters, both at work and at home.

The team at Coast & Country Cottages has been striving to think more responsibly about single-use plastics, in conjunction with the Kids Against Plastic campaign to be more plastic clever.

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