Plastic Tide Rising

Our beaches are in trouble. While microplastics have remained a problem on Highcliffe and Barton-on-Sea beaches in the last few years, nurdles seemed to diminish. Now a walk at Barton on Sea tells a grim story. A dead seabird tangled in fishing line, boat debris, masses of microplastics tangled in seaweed and fishing paraphernalia, and lines of both fresh and weathered nurdles, paint a heartbreaking picture. Nurdles were collected of course, but this is a temporary solution.

New Forest Friends of the Earth has fought this fight before, leading clean-ups, surveys, working with schools to raise awareness, and even tracing nurdles to their source in Southampton. Yet plastic pollution persists, and the Plastics Treaty has stalled, delaying critical action.

Barton on Sea is a stark reminder that we must act now to cut plastic production, recycle far more of it and protect our environment.