Welcome to the May 2023 newsletter
Contents
Climate change volunteering – be the change & help the lobby for action
Youth participation – new group for a youth voice
Finds – Transatlantic treasures, detonation cord
Vapes – single use recycling developments
PlasticBlitz – River Rother dates – May 27th to June 10th
Eastbourne Spring Water Festival – May 12th to 21st
The Fulmar (part of membership package) contains more info on these articles and other international, regional and local news.
Membership
A reminder that 2023 membership subscriptions are due.
We cannot currently collect payments by direct debit, so renewal is on an annual basis (1st January) via our website please. £10 for existing members or £12 if are joining us for the first time.
Thank you to all our members for supporting Strandliners:
we could not do it without you.
Andy Dinsdale
Past Events
Dungeness MCS Survey
We were a small group for our survey on 8th April, but we identified 488 items from our 100-metre stretch, weighing 5.75 kg. We picked up a further 51 kg of rubbish on the walk back to the car park. Our finds included a plastic sign from the Torquay ‘Bay of Lights event from Christmas 2022 (should we be mindful of how we produce time-sensitive material?) and a fender from Maine with a fishing tag attached dated 2018.
News and Views
Be the change!
Can you help lobby for climate change action by giving some of your time to a Strandliners event? We are not asking you to do anything drastic, but are raising awareness of the link between plastic pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. You could join a survey, help with an admin task, analyse data, upload surveys, help with social media marketing and much more. if you have a few spare hours, an idea or skills you could share, we would love to hear from you.
Young Strandliners
Strandliners is developing a ‘Young Strandliners’ group for 10- to 18-year-olds. Meeting once a month, we aim to create a team who are passionate about our environment, willing to learn new skills and take the challenge to our decision makers. Please contact us if you have children who would be interested in taking part.
Disposable Vapes
The problem with disposable vapes is that they are not disposable. Made up of many different materials, they contain a lithium-ion battery, which is not only a precious resource, but has been known to cause fires.
Veolia has launched a nationwide vape recycling service where retailers can sign up for an in-store customer drop-off container, which the waste management company will then collect. Once collected, vapes will be taken to “various specialist UK facilities”, where they will be manually dismantled, and components sorted, before the materials are treated and processed.
This is a step in the right direction, but why are manufacturers allowed to produce items such as these, with no responsibility for their end of life? You can read more about the scheme here.
Recent Finds
Strandliners’ volunteers have been finding treasures on recent surveys! The fender, found at Dungeness, came from Maine and carries a lobster/crab trap tag dated 2018. Other transatlantic finds included a fishing licence from Massachusetts and a lobster/crab trap tag from Maine dated 2005.
The detonation or shock cord shown below is thin, hollow, plastic tubing that is filled with explosive material and is used in mining, construction and demolition. It is usually orange or yellow. Tubing like this was used in the 2021-2022 Boston Harbour channel deepening project. We have been finding it along our beaches from Newhaven to Dungeness.
Future Events
Eastbourne Spring Water Festival
Saturday 13 May
Western Lawns – Eco Fair (talks, displays & activities) 9.00 am to 4.00 pm
Beach by the Wish Tower – Big Seaweed Search 11.30 am to 1.00 pm – free tickets via Eventbrite
Tuesday 16 May
Shinewater Lake – Studio at the Lake – see Plastic Free Eastbourne
Thursday 18 May
Lansdowne Hotel – The Blue Planet @ Eastbourne (conference) – free tickets to attend in person or online via Eventbrite
Saturday 20 May
Holywell Beach – Studio on the Beach (zero-waste beach activities) 4.00 to 6.00 pm – free tickets via Eventbrite
Holywell Beach – Big Seaweed Search 6.00 to 8.00 pm – free tickets via Eventbrite
PlasticBlitz surveys – River Rother
This event, originally set up by Thames 21, has gone nationwide for the first time. Like a bioblitz, where people find and identify as many species as possible in a given time, a Plasticblitz is a community event where we identify and record all the plastic ‘species’ we find. The surveys will follow the Preventing Plastic Protocol we have used before and data uploaded to the Plasticblitz portal to continue building a picture of the ‘litter DNA’ in the catchment.
Saturday 27 May – Monk Bretton Bridge – 10 am to 12 noon
(please register to take part)
Wednesday 31 May – Rye Harbour Nature Reserve – 2.00 to 4.00 pm
(please register to take part)
Saturday 10 June – Scots Float – 9.30 to 11.30 am
(please register to take part)
Dungeness beach survey
Saturday 17 June – 9.30 am to 1.30 pm
This is a challenging, but fascinating event, involving a long walk over shingle, and is not suitable for young children or anyone with mobility issues. If you are up for a challenge, please register to take part.
Social Media Presence
We appreciate your support through subscribing to this newsletter, please share with friends and family.
Another way to help Strandliners reach a greater audience is through our social media presence. We are notoriously not amazing at keeping up with letting everyone know what we do but if all subscribers were able to support through “liking”, “sharing” and/or reposting it would really helpful!
Facebook – Strandliners
Instagram – Strandliners
Twitter – @StrandlinersCIC
Rother Community Lottery
Supporting Strandliners whilst having the chance to win yourself.
It all helps keeping Strandliners going.
Membership
Benefits of becoming a member include a quarterly online magazine, The Fulmar, a monthly raffle to win a sea bean, and opportunities to join beach, marine & citizen science workshops.