Thursday evening saw an enthusiastic and fun group from Shoreham Beach Cubs, who returned to the beach to further their understanding of beach litter and its effect upon the environment as part of the FoSB Tidy Up the Tideline Initiative. A couple of months ago, the Cubs had completed a beach clean behind Shoreham Fort, but this time they came to both do a beach clean and to see how much of what they found could be recycled.

The Cubs split into their Sixes and supported by parents and Cub Leaders, cleaned the small beach below the car park ( it was low tide); the beach inside the West Arm, and either side of the Fort. Once the time was up they returned to the shelter of the Fort and emptied out their findings.

Together we sorted out the litter into recyclable and non-recyclable and talked about the time it takes for some of the stuff found to disintegrate. Some broken pieces of plastic also illustrated the micro-plastic issue. Approximately 50% of the litter collected was able to be recycled and was placed in appropriate bins. The biggest interest came from analyzing the PET triangles found on some of the plastic and recognising that for many plastic containers the lids are non-recyclable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes and as a simple check, if the plastic was bendy, it was probably capable of being recycled. A glass jar from the Netherlands, still with some of its contents intact, showed how ship deposited litter can end up on the shoreline

It was a great learning night and one which will help those Cubs working towards their conservation badges. More photos in the Cubs Recycle Gallery. If any other Packs,Schools or similar groups would like to get involved in this initiative ( For more details, see the Tidy Up The Tideline Pages) please email  friendsofshorehambeach@gmail.com