Five tonnes of rubbish removed: Planet Aware’s commitment to protecting coastlines

Editorial Team
Nov 25
2 min read

Updated: Nov 26

The Planet Aware team and its dedicated volunteers have had an inspiring year helping to care for our coast undertaking 29 beach cleans (with additional private and closed group cleans) six nurdle hunts, and a range of educational and community activities aimed at tackling marine pollution and promoting sustainable living.

Across these events, Planet Aware has collected an estimated five tonnes of rubbish – filling more than five skips of waste – much of it originating from shipping and fishing. Recently this included an enormous length of rope retrieved from the shoreline.

Plastic pollution

Plastic is the biggest polluter and the top polluting plastic items include cigarette butts, plastic bottles and bottle tops from shipping, fishing net and rope, nurdles and microplastic pollution.

In the summer months food packaging and take away items are still significantly littered items. These remain a recurring and saddening feature on our beaches and reinforce the urgent need for continued community action and awareness.

Every item removed from the shore is one less washed back out to sea

Sarah, from the Planet Aware committee, said,

“This year, volunteers, funders, and supporters have worked incredibly hard to protect our beautiful Island coastline. “Every cleanup tells a story — of time freely given, teamwork, and a shared love for our coast. It’s great that many more people are doing their bit to care for our coast and whilst plastic is a useful material we need to look at where we can reduce the amount we use. “However, government policy is key to ensure specific areas – from packaging, cigarette butt litter, shipping and fishing waste are targeted. Meanwhile, every item removed from the shore is one less that is washed back out to sea.”

Nurdle hunts

Planet Aware Nurdle hunts focus on surveying the numbers of small plastic pellets that pollute our shores and ocean (following container spills or mishandling during transportation and production) and these have become a growing area of public interest, with increasing participation from local residents, families, and schools.

Expanding educational outreach

Looking ahead to 2026, Planet Aware plans to expand its educational outreach and build on this year’s success, working closely with local partners to reduce marine litter at its source, and inspire more people to take part in protecting the Island’s coastlines.

Currently, the group are especially keen to hear from Island artists to create works to raise awareness of the impact of nurdle pollution.

The volunteers are excited to be holding their second Island gathering to discuss the impacts of the nurdle pollution on our wildlife, beaches and community (Feb 2026), and to embark on assisting Portsmouth University Students with research into aspects of marine plastic pollution.