The Great Angus Beach Clean is under way.
And this weekend you have the chance to play a part in adding to the NINE TONNES of rubbish the event has gathered since it began in 2019.
It is a dedicated weekend of action in a year-round effort to rid Angus of marine litter.
Ladyloan primary litter champs
And young litter pickers from Arbroath’s Ladyloan primary led the way with the launch of the 2022 clean-up at Inchcape Park on Friday.
Ladyloan is the area’s Marine Species and Litter School champion.
So its P7 pupils were determined to set a good example to people across the district.
They certainly did that by collecting more than 70 kilos of rubbish in just a couple of hours.
And they were joined by Lauren Smith from Turning the Plastic Tide and Angus Council marine litter and species champion, Councillor Julie Bell.
Angus Clean Environments spearheads the project.
And Wendy Murray of ACE hopes the youngsters’ enthusiasm will inspire others this weekend.
The first Great Angus Beach Clean took place in May 2019.
“It was the largest event of its kind in the county and involved 200 locals over three days,” Wendy said.
“Since then it’s collected around nine tonnes of marine litter.
“The last one in September 2021 saw more than a tonne of litter collected in ten areas between Monifieth and Montrose.
“It’s mostly the usual suspects of bottles, cans, fast food packaging and ghost fishing gear.
“But volunteers picked up tyres, oil canisters and lots of cigarette butts and bags of dog poo.”
Deadly discovery
“And at Barry Buddon we found four bags containing tiny polystyrene balls washed ashore,” Wendy said.
“These are deadly as they never escape from the marine environment and are swallowed by birds and fish.
“And this doesn’t include the vast amount of marine litter picked up by individuals and groups on a regular basis throughout the year.”
ACE won LEADER funding for an all-terrain vehicle to help their effort.
And it will be well used this weekend to pick up hundreds of bags of rubbish.
The initiative has also extended inland to areas including Friockheim, where local litter champion James Anderson is the driving force.
Great Angus Beach Clean events near you
There are organised beach cleans at locations right up the Angus coast.
Ferryden: Saturday 9.30am to 11am. Bacon rolls afterwards.
Lunan Bay: Saturday 9.30am. Meet at car park.
East Haven: Saturday 10am. Meet at East Haven car park heritage point
Monifieth/Barry Buddon: Saturday 10am. meet at Monifieth beach car park.
Friockheim Park: Saturday 8am to 6pm. Litter picking and litter share station open all day.
Scurdie Ness: Sunday 10.30am. Meet at Cairn.
Carnoustie: Sunday 10am to noon. Meet at beach car park opposite railway station.
Montrose Bay: No organised clean-up so please go to the beach and pick up your ‘four for the shore’.
Victoria Park pick delayed
And Arbroath Litter and Poo Fighters group is making sure the town’s most popular seafront park isn’t missed out.
But Victoria Park will be cleaned up next Saturday.
It is due to a large scale independence march taking place in the town this weekend.
Poo Fighters organiser Ian Wren said: “We couldn’t go to Victoria Park because the march finishes there.
“So we have organised the clean-up to take place on Saturday April 9 instead, starting at 10am.
“And we would love to see people there to help us.”
The group carries out weekly local litter picks.
They are always on the lookout for sponsorship from local businesses and have already donated more than £1,600 to good causes.
