The Journey to a Plastic Free Community in Porthcurno.

The Journey to a Plastic Free Community in Porthcurno.

Over the last year, Planet PK has been working hard to make Porthcurno an official Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) ‘Plastic Free Community’! I have taken part along this journey in a few ways, from organising beach cleans, social media awareness and SAS surveys.

SAS Super Volunteer

During last year I became an SAS super volunteer, I spent a day each month for six months tracking litter across a 200m stretch. My chosen stretch was the path between the lower Porthcurno car park and the beach, which experiences very heavy footfall, especially during summer. Each trip I collected between 60- 150 items, just in that small stretch of path. Items ranged from plastic bottles, cans, clothing, tissues and wet wipes, dog waste and a LOT of cigarette butts. This research was quite eye opening, often when we think of pollution, we think big, plastic bags, fishing nets, beach toys, frisbees, but seeing the number of smaller plastics like cigarette butts was even more concerning. 65% of cigarette butts are littered rather than put in the bin and each one will take upwards of 10 years to decompose; they are the most frequent littered item in the UK and cause all kinds of environmental issues so it’s alarming to imagine what kind of unseen damages they are causing to Porthcurno’s coast.

Collaborations

During 2021, Planet PK arranged quite a few beach cleans ranging from SAS Million Mile Cleans to collaborations with Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Trust South West Rangers. We had some great help from the PK Porthcurno staff and Minack Theatre’s staff as well as many dedicated local residents and some holiday makers! Everyone was keen to get stuck in and help keep Porthcurno beach clean and free from hazards. We found some outrageous pieces of litter, from several disposable BBQs to ring frisbees and even a whole tent left abandoned on the shore! Each beach clean we collected roughly 7-10 sacks of litter, just from Porthcurno beach and footpath. This number was higher during the summer holidays as footfall increased on the coast paths and beach. With everyone’s help we managed to get all the rubbish properly disposed of.

Beach Cleans – 2021

During 2021, Planet PK arranged quite a few beach cleans ranging from SAS Million Mile Cleans to collaborations with Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Trust South West Rangers. We had some great help from the PK Porthcurno staff and Minack Theatre’s staff as well as many dedicated local residents and some holiday makers! Everyone was keen to get stuck in and help keep Porthcurno beach clean and free from hazards. We found some outrageous pieces of litter, from several disposable BBQs to ring frisbees and even a whole tent left abandoned on the shore! Each beach clean we collected roughly 7-10 sacks of litter, just from Porthcurno beach and footpath. This number was higher during the summer holidays as footfall increased on the coast paths and beach. With everyone’s help we managed to get all the rubbish properly disposed of.

Documenting the Beach Cleans

One of the beach cleans wasn’t only about litter when we found a gannet sitting in the middle of the beach! It was clearly unwell as it was undisturbed by everyone’s presence and was very sluggish. Local BDMLR medics were alerted and quickly arrived to wrap it up safe to be transported to safety. We drove it to mousehole Wild Bird Hospital and Sanctuary who kindly took it in to be looked after.

Photographing the beach cleans has been a really rewarding experience, getting to interact and chat to members of the local community and people from further afield who all share a love for the marine environment and a passion for protecting it and raising awareness.

Becoming a Plastic Free Community is a great opportunity for Porthcurno allowing us to reduce the use of single use plastic in the Valley and raise more awareness among tourists, tackling the damages of plastic pollution in the community. For a tourist attraction its especially important to do this as there are a large influx of people who may not be so environmentally aware around holidays and educating them helps keep the community and nature clean and healthy.

A big thank you to everyone who helped out this year!

You can find Planet PK on Instagram – @planetpkporthcurno

Twitter – @PlanetPK_

Maeve Cushla, Young Curator, PK Porthcurno

Header Photo: Maeve Cushla

The Journey to a Plastic Free Community in Porthcurno.
Scroll to top