‘PHENOMENAL’ was the word used to describe the Plastic Movement’s epic beach clean, Dawn ‘til Dusk, which saw all members of the community contributing to tidying Bude’s beaches, from Crackington Haven to Sandymouth.

The Plastic Movement, an organisation set up by Bude’s lifeguards, is a group aiming to reduce the amount of plastic that is washed up onto the beaches in the area, and their recent Dawn ‘til Dusk beach clean on Sunday, September 11, has shown the determination of the community.

With an early start at 6am at Crackington Haven, 25 people were seen up at the crack of dawn to get stuck into the first stage of the event. People from as far as Launceston and Bideford also came along to lend a hand.

When the clean reached Crooklets beach at 12pm, 150 people were seen getting involved, and the numbers kept increasing as the day went on, resulting in a total of 407 volunteers across Bude’s beaches.

Dan Gow, one of the founding members of the Plastic Movement, told the Post: “It was absolutely phenomenal — better than we ever could have expected.

“It’s vital to help keep our beaches clean. The amount of rubbish that washes up on Bude’s beaches is staggering, and of course we, as lifeguards, know more than anyone what gets washed up. People don’t know how big of an issue it really is, so it’s good to get people to the beach to learn and see for themselves about the pollution and the variety of rubbish.

“Things from fishing nets to sanitary items get washed up, so it’s really important to know that there is a variety of litter that comes in. People think that most of the rubbish comes from fishing boats, with the fishing nets and boxes, but things like plastic cotton buds are extremely common — we collected hundreds of them on the day, and they come straight from the toilets.

“Also, the tiny pieces of plastic that were collected, coming from large bits of plastic that have gradually been broken down from being bashed about in the water, was astounding. Of course, this gets passed through the food chain when the fish consume it, and then we end up poisoning ourselves, essentially. People seemed to be very shocked by that.”

Community groups from all over Bude got involved, including the Crackington Crew, Widemouth Task Force and Crooklet’s BeachCare, as well as BeachCare officer Neil Hembrow and beach clean warrior, Deb Rosser. Children, the elderly and people from outside of Bude also came along to have a go, showing the real community spirit blossoming from the town.

Dan added: “The support we’ve received from organisations, beach clean groups and the wider community in Bude really is phenomenal.”

The Plastic Movement is now conjuring up more events for the future, and the Dawn ‘til Dusk clean is expected to take place annually following their first event’s success.