12th May ’17: Marine litter shocker

Happy Friday, folks.

As you may have gathered by now, I am very much of the opinion that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. There is no greater proof of this than the fact that, when I go to the beach, I scour the shores for pretty plastic and end up with pockets full of the stuff. My plan is to, one day, incorporate all these bits into a project of some kind, using @mcphersonsteve & @smartie_lids_on_the_beach as my inspiration. Yesterday’s trip to Camber Sands yielded this little cluster of vibrant rainbow-hued rubbish which will go into the mix. And I have to say, I pretty much found every colour possible (unheard of in my history of beach litter gathering). Creatively, this was good news, but it also stands as proof of how much rubbish there was actually there (and, believe me, I could have gone on picking things up for hours). Now, I don’t particularly consider myself a strident eco-warrior but I was shocked by this plus the profusion of black and grey nurdles (‘angels’ tears’) along the length of the beach. If you’re unfamiliar with these, they’re tiny nuggets of plastic that go to make plastic products but also pollute the seas (in this picture they’re also the little brightly-coloured spheres). My lovely friend Jules (aka @wild_travel_adventure) is hoping to get the wheels in motion to do something about these ones in Camber. In the meantime, if you’re on a beach anytime soon and see some colourful litter, my challenge for you is to collect some and be creative with it (works well against either a black or white background) and show me what you’ve done #mybeachlitterart. See it as deriving beauty from the discarded, as well as doing your bit for our beautiful planet.

Have a great day.

Martha, The Colour File x

Leave a Reply