just you wait to see the photo I'll post of how much came off this beach...it's quite a feat for this much crap to be ignored!! the scottish environmental protection agency (SEPA) dont seem to think its part of their environment for some bizarre reason...

Altandhu.....still

well..

two weeks ago, I set myself a date to be finished on the beach here. that date was this coming monday. after just taking another stroll up my stones (as the last three or four days ahve been spent on the risen bank sorting, stripping and slahing the masses gathered entangled rope which was pulled out of the stones by tractor) and to my demise I now see no way it can be done on Monday. I've said it before, but I'll say it again . . . this beach is a mess and I can not bring myself to leave it in the state that it is. last saturday, a resident of altandhu, brian - who has bee a phenomenal help on the mission - and seasonal residents Billy & Barb, Grant and Nikki and girls all down for a day, and what an incredible difference a few more bodies makes!! These guys deserve to be commended for their efforts and are an inspiration not only to myself but to anyone who has seen the coasts in a state of dissaray. Well Done!!

To all the community of Altandhu, I put a huge thankyou to! Without the support - food, verbal and of course, drink ( I am feeling a little worse for wear though, excessive consumption some might say, I'll have a break for a few years now..)- it could not have been possible!!

Another one of those little moments of coincidence or chance has come about..a random unintroduced meeting of a couple on their honeymoon in the Am Fauran pub, has now brought about the offer support of sponsorship by an environmental consultancy private company called JIG. the details make me smile, but won't go into them, all i'll say is that now with their help, I will be able to continue the beaches through the dreary months of winter! marvellous..so the sponsorship came, exactly whe it was needed (my tent poles have snapped in three different places after an attempt to preserve them in gale force winds, i ended up doing the damage putting it back up again..)

so..aach..nae bother..i'll be off now and write some more when my stones are sparkling..



**and to Gayle, I have heard about the beach at Thurso, I'll be there, dont know when though. thanks for the donation!!

just giving

Hello out there everyone!

well finally, the fundraiser can start properly now. I have an online website set up that can take donations. Just to remind anyone or to inform anyone, I want to sponsoe people onto environmental conservation programs, run by international conservation organisation, Frontier. I need about £25000 for that, but I am also raising funds for the Marine Conservation Societys' Coastal Challenge (www.mcsuk.org).

So dig deep and help out if you can.

www.justgiving.com/beachclean

there you can see me in my finest cleaning outfit, covered in tar holding up my crap collected from LochBroom.

If you follow this site at all, be aware that I may stand up and shout around every now and then about any issues that anoy me (damn plastic plague). And I am building up to a mass media statement. I feel I may have a platform soon, after 11 articles in Scotlands papers have been written about this Aussies mission to clean up the coast, and one radio interview. The Press & Journal here in north Scotland will be tracking my progress so I hear on the vine, so that will be my avenue in.

My donation website currently sits at £0, so ...... its a start i guess.

The Poly Plague . .

"The leatherback turtle can keep itself warm in cold water, dive over 1000 meters below sea level, travel thousands of miles and gulp down a Portuguese man-of-war but is threatened by the inert plastic shopping bag" - Mrosovky, N. 1987

Plastics, like diamonds, are forever!

(conveniently plagiarised from ERF Campaign Against the Plastic Plague)

The Poly Plague:

What to do with the 6-8 tonnes being collected from the shore stones of Altandhu? 80% of which is recyclable plastics.

Landfill?

Incineration?

Which crime is less damaging? In terms of long term environmental conservation, leaving it on the beach is probably the best plan. Exposure will break it down faster than burying it and is much less harmful atmospherically than throwing a match to it all. But, it don't look too good, does it?

Why am I cleaning beaches?


The reason I camp in the gale of Scotlands coast, dragging load after load off the stones is so we can all enjoy the view. An increased level of appreciation publicly for our home is necessary for any real large scale action to begin. Something which is critically required.

In excess of 80 million tonnes (1 tonne being 120,000 plastic bags) of polymer are produced every year. Using 8% of the worlds' oil supply to do so, and according to 2001 Environment Agency report 80% was sent to landfill, 8% incinerated, and only 7% recycled.

It's all well and good to pick it all up, but we need to take responsibility. Recycling should have to be taken into account when forecasting plastic production costs.

It's 4am. My eyes are blurred. And I've spent the whole night looking at some hard hitting figures on the sham of a recycling system in place in the UK and worldwide.

Wake up everyone. We've slept in and are very damn late..

- Six times as much plastic per weight than zooplankton is in any given amount of sea water taken from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

In Australia alone, my home, if every person averaged one plastic bottle per day, be it milk cartons, soft drink, whatever, there are close to 7 billion bottles going to landfill each year! (visy.com.au) Imagine that on a global scale.

Altandhu

Day 58 - Altandhu

"Everything is coming into balance."

A settling statement recieved by my cerebral cortex moments ago.

For something to come into balance, there has to be a time of inbalance. A time at which we are now in. But if we live with an awareness that there is need for this learning curve and accept that the balancing will come, the double doors swing open to allow us to step beyond to a room beautifully lit.



The beach at Altandhu, near Achlitibuie, Ross-Shire, North West Scotland. A point where the tides tend to favour . . and for the past three to four decades they have been sending it gifts from the open waters. Duely recieved by the stones at high tide. Unfortunately, these "gifts" are the oceans' rejected offerings from us, feeling it was our responsibility to care for and not its'.

This beach will need about three to four weeks I feel. But that is of no bother. It is a spectacular spot, and deserves the attention.

I arrived here after beginning on Reiff Beach, 3 miles west(ish). But Reiff is now in the very capable hands of its' former carer and friend. So Altandhu it is. A place that deserves much credit for its' natural wonder, but at present it is in the shadow of the colourful display of polymer products smothering its stones.

for now..