Plastic Pick-up

We join the family cleaning up Cornwall’s beaches with the help of a special Nissan.

- Martin Saarinen

“I THINK one of the most interesting pieces I ever picked up was a Hula Hoops crisp packet from 1987,” says Emily Stevenson, a 21-year-old marine biology graduate who is now safeguarding Cornwall’s beaches from plastic. “It just goes to show that this stuff stays forever, it doesn’t decompose.”

More than eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans each year, causing untold damage to marine and beach ecosystems. And up to 80 per cent of all ocean litter is made of plastic, according to the United Nations.

While the UK’s recycling efforts are better than in many other countries, oceans have little regard for borders. Plastic is washed on to Britain’s beaches from as far afield as China. To help keep the country’s beaches clean, local community groups like Beach Guardian, organised by Emily and her father, Rob, are vital.

Interestingly, car manufacturers are lending a hand, with Nissan agreeing to provide a fleet of vehicles across Europe to those who need help clearing beaches. In the UK, it’s put up a hardcore version of its Navara pick-up, the Arctic Trucks-modified AT32, for the job. So Auto Express grabbed the keys and headed down to Cornwall to pick up some plastic.

“We moved to Cornwall 10 years ago,” explains Rob. “It wasn’t long until we started to notice all the plastic on the beach, so Emily and I would then start picking it up to clean the beach.” What started as a father and daughter activity soon grew into a community movement.