Gemma Taylor, Communications Manager, based in our Perranporth office, volunteers with the Perranporth Action for the Climate Emergency (PACE) group to help make positive changes for the environment in the village. Gemma is a member of the ‘Beach Waste’ working group, who’s goal is to try and reduce plastic waste in the ocean.
Earlier this year the group installed a bodyboard recycling bin by the beach, for visitors to discard any unwanted or damaged bodyboards to reduce the number being sent to landfill. The bin was a huge success, and the team recently used all 267.5 bodyboards to create beach art to highlight the number of discarded body boards collected in just a few months in Perranporth.
Local artist Vicky Gould, also a member of the Beach Waste working group and some local volunteers created a rainbow colour wheel on Perranporth’s vast sandy beach.
Working with The Ocean Recovery Project, all 267.5 bodyboards were collected and taken to be recycled into insulation for an eco-house currently under construction in Devon.
Gemma Taylor says ‘it’s been great to work with local businesses to try and reduce plastic waste on the beautiful beach in Perranporth, seeing the vast amount of bodyboards that have been collected displayed together, really brought home what a difference working together can make. I’m delighted to be part of the volunteer group, with Aspects Holidays' full support. A big thank you goes to everyone who has used the bodyboard recycle bin this year’.
Bodyboard waste is one of the biggest issues facing Cornwall’s beaches. It has been estimated over 14,000 bodyboards are left on beaches across Devon and Cornwall each year (data from Keep Britain Tidy).
To help reduce bodyboard waste, alongside recycling unwanted or damaged boards, we have worked with local surf store, Piran Surf to encourage body board hire. Hiring, or investing in a good quality board is a great way to help reduce the spread of plastic waste as they will last longer and be more durable in the water.
Faye Clifton, chair of the Beach Waste working group says “PACE was established to form the Perranporth parish's response to climate change, to help protect our beautiful coastal area… 2022 was the first year for the bodyboard bins and was heralded as a great success with over 250 boards collected and with great feedback from locals and the public. Next year we want to build on this success and do even more to protect our environment and to help inspire others to do the same.”
As a Cornish business, we are always exploring new ways to do more for our environment and are looking forward to working on future projects with the local volunteer group.
Tags: Surfing | Perranporth | Environment |