Like many beaches on Arran and elsewhere Kildonan beach suffers from large amounts of litter – the majority of which are plastic. It is a staggering fact that not a single piece of plastic that has been made has fully degraded in the environment. Each and every piece of plastic will remain in the environment and pollute for centuries to come. All that happens is that the pieces of plastic get smaller and smaller and smaller but never disappear. Critically they are still there and worse enter the food chain. On a purely local level this is very unsightly and more widely deleterious to the environment. We can not go on like this. Thanks to the help of a local Councillor Ellen McMaster Kildonan beach will be less blighted with litter and although a tiny step there will be less plastic in the environment.
I wrote to Cllr McMaster about the litter on Kildonan beach and asked for a pick up stick nd bags to help with litter collection as I walked my dogs along the beach. The Cllr immediately turned this request into positive action and a stick and bags duly arrived at my home. The photo is of my first litter pick. Half an hours effort and only halted when the bag became too heavy to carry.
A brief very unscientific review of the contents bore out my suspicions – mostly plastics in the form of single use drink bottles, bottle caps, drink cans, nylon rope and tampon applicators plus many bits of polythene, chocolate bar wrappers and miscellaneous odds and sods.
I have been asked why bother what difference am I making? My reply is simple. I have pride in my local beach and feel personally affronted by the unsightly litter that accumulates on it and secondly my contribution might be infitesimately small as an individual but the efforts of many individuals can make a difference. Be proud of your local area, care for the environment and just get out there and do it! Make a difference.