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Cleethorpes tackle beach littering

Cleethorpes launches initiative to tackle beach littering this summer

Campaign tells visitors to ‘Bin it or take it home’ after tests show it reduces littering by 26 per cent.

New signs and stickers will be appearing on Cleethorpes beach in a drive to cut the amount of rubbish left by visitors
North East Lincolnshire Council is working in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy as part of a project funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation to help tackle the harm done by beach litter.

The new Bin It or Take It Home campaign, which was piloted by the environmental charity last summer and saw beach litter reduce by an average of 26 per cent, and by as much as 59 per cent on one beach, will be appearing on beaches across the country, including Cleethorpes, and will be in place throughout the summer.

Cllr Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for Environment and Transport at North East Lincolnshire Council, said:
“There’s no excuse for dropping litter. Most people want Cleethorpes to look clean and tidy, it’s better for visitors, local people, businesses and wildlife.

“If a bin is full, please help marine life by finding another bin or taking your rubbish home. Our street cleansing team clean the beach every day in summer and clear away an average of 700kg of rubbish each week – that’s about three tonnes in a month. They empty street bins twice a day and we’re finding a lot more food and drink packaging than we used to.
Most people take responsibility for their rubbish and look after the beach, it’s a shame that there are some people who choose to mess it up. Volunteer litter pickers from groups including Cleethorpes BeachCare and Ebb and Flo do a tremendous job keeping the beach clean and making people feel proud of the resort. We should all be grateful for the hours they work to make the resort a more attractive place for everyone.”

Cllr Swinburn added:
“We have enforcement officers on patrol to help protect the local environment, keep the area looking its best and deter litter louts from messing up our beach and streets.
We’ve also recently replaced our street litter bins with much larger bins that hold almost three times as much rubbish.”

Keep Britain Tidy’s RiverCare and BeachCare programme officer, Catherine Holborn, said:
“The Bin It Take It Home Campaign has so far shown very positive results for litter in costal towns, and we can’t wait to see similar results in Cleethorpes.

“The local BeachCare group regularly dedicate time to picking up the litter along the beach, and we hope the campaign will complement their fantastic efforts.”

Peter Kingsford, from the Cleethorpes BeachCare group, added:
“So come on you people of Cleethorpes, let’s all help to make our beautiful beaches the best on the east coast if not in the country.”

North East Lincolnshire’s coastline is the gateway of the Humber Estuary. It provides a vital staging post for migratory birds, with over 150,000 feeding there during the winter months.

Habitats include saltmarshes, mud flats, sand dunes and sand banks which provide for the wildlife of the area.

Many species of animal live on or near our beach, including crabs, shrimps and cockles, and a variety of fish, such as sea bass, flounder and plaice. These species can also be found in the outer estuary saltmarsh.

Birds also call Cleethorpes beach their home, including oystercatchers, turnstones and curlews, which rely on the ecosystem of North East Lincolnshire.

Rubbish left on the beach can cause a number of problems for these animals, especially plastic waste, as can eat or get trapped in it, causing serious harm and damaging habitats.
Parts of the estuary were designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1988, including our unique wetlands which are officially recognised as an area of international importance.

Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton said:
“We are delighted that North East Lincolnshire Council is one of our partners for this summer’s drive to keep our beaches clean and litter-free.

“We are all now only too aware of the impact our littering behaviour on the land is having on our oceans and we all have a responsibility to put our rubbish in a bin or take it home when we are visiting our country’s beautiful beaches.”

Contact Gi Grimsby
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