Collected plastic from Westward Ho! beach will be used to manufacture buckets and spades.
Plastic Free Torridge proudly announces a series of beach cleans to support a ground breaking initiative using collected marine and beach plastic to provide raw materials to manufacture beach toys. The BEACH CLEANS 4 BEACHTOYS will start in May and continue until the end of July.
Collected plastic will be washed and sorted before being used in an injection moulding manufacturing process. So far, designs for spades, buckets and lids have been approved and it is hoped a wider range can be developed. The inventor behind the idea, Callum Wardle, wants all profits from sales of his beach toys to be donated to Surfers Against Sewage.
“The idea of using discarded beach plastic to make beach toys is very exciting”, commented Callum Wardle. “The concept was born from a project during my first University degree. It makes no sense to use a finite material like oil to make plastic for beach toys when so much plastic is found on our beaches every day. I am very excited with the products already planned and with the opportunity to raise money to support marine conservation.”
“We are proud to see Westward Ho! selected as the first beach to collect plastic for production”, stated Phoebe Gibb, Plastic Free Torridge. “There is so much plastic deposited on our beaches after every tide it’s heart breaking. Now when we find a plastic bottle or fish crate, we can smile knowing it will be repurposed into a beach toy.”
Three beach cleans are planned at Westward Ho! beach in May, June and July to collect discarded plastic for beach toy production.
“As ever, we are hoping to see our local community support this series of beach cleans,” added Sadie Davies, Plastic Free Torridge. “We will have sanitised pickers and freshly washed gloves as well as plenty of collection bags. Everyone attending will be actively encouraged to socially distance at all times.”
The bucket and spade is an iconic feature of a British beach holiday. Every year tens of thousands of plastic buckets and spades are manufactured in China using virgin plastic, imported and sold in beach side shops around the UK.
“Using virgin plastic to manufacture a bucket and spade when so much plastic is washed up on our beaches seems odd doesn’t it?”, questioned Andrew Cross, Plastic Free Torridge. “Using plastic puked up by the ocean on every tide to help make beach toys is very exciting. And I am proud that Westward Ho! beach has been chosen to support this venture.”
For further details and comment, please contact Andrew Cross on 07886854196 or by emailing [email protected].
