Last weekend Bayside School students and teachers, the Dept of the Environment EPRU team, Gibraltar Baton Committee and the ESG cleared a vast amount of waste from a seafront location at Waterport.

A statement from the ESG follows below:

Last weekend saw a group of volunteers clear a vast amount of waste from a seafront location at Waterport. A great team from Bayside School students and teachers, together with the Dept of the Environment EPRU team, Gibraltar Baton Committee, and the ESG, rolled up sleeves, donned gloves, and pickers, and carried out the removal of a considerable amount of waste in little over an hour. This included all types of plastic, food wrappers and trade & construction litter.

The Clean up was carried out in support of the ‘Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign’ by the Royal Commonwealth Society and formed part of the King’s Baton Relay programme on the Rock. 

Volunteers were equipped by the ESG and supported by the Dept of the Environment and the local Baton Committee. The key aim was to raise awareness about the dangers of plastic waste in the 74 Commonwealth member nations as they celebrated their time with the baton. 

The hard work by volunteers also exposed the ongoing problems at this waterfront site which regularly sees waste likely from the activity from trade and construction sites in the area as well as food and drink related litter from those often seen taking lunch breaks in the area, with many leaving rubbish on the rocks. Follow up by the authorities was discussed on site and is clearly needed.

The clean-up demonstrated that citizen spirit is very much alive, as is often seen with beach clean ups by The Nautilus Project, and the annual ESG’s Flagship Clean up Campaign since 2005. The date this year is the 20th of September with registration now possible at [email protected].

The ESG strongly welcomes the fact that a long-established event such as the King’s Baton Symbolic Relay, has this year, embraced the need to highlight the hazard of plastic waste in the oceans and need for action, in all participating countries. 

It also very much thanks those who helped clean up on the day who should be very proud of what they achieved for our living environment as well as supporting such a worthy cause of removing harmful waste from our seas.