litteredbeachWhat’s the craic with leaving rubbish lying on beaches after your finished?

Seriously like! Not only is at a disgrace to the environment it shows absolutely no respect for those of us living close to our beaches.

I was working the weekend of our gorgeous and out of character heat wave last month and was planning on making my Sunday off a lazy day to vegetate on the beach and catch the last few dwindling rays of sunshine. I jumped up early, packed my beach bag, picked up two beautiful friends and off we went for a day at the beach.

Helen’s Bay is one of my favourite beaches since I was a child and my whole family would have used it because it wasn’t too far from home and a very beautiful part of the world.

Not now it wasn’t! The whole place was disgusting and filthy with litter from what I guess was the previous days sun worshippers.

I am not talking a few empty packets of crisps here I am talking more dirty nappies, cans/bottles/containers from every multi- national logo imaginable and enough plastic carrier bags to make a giant condom for our Belfast City Hall’s Dome. It was impossible to sit and enjoy the seaside.

Thankfully the local council was cleaning the mess up but this didn’t look like an easy feat. Took them another hour to bring the beach back to some sort of condition that would be deemed suitable for humans.

I wouldn’t consider myself an eco-warrior by any stretch but I really think that everyone can do more here to help the environment, especially the lazy bastards using our beauty spots as dumping grounds.

Why can’t people clean up after themselves, there are public bins EVERYWHERE. I hope those involved are ashamed of their revolting waste disposal habits.

This wasn’t just a local problem either as I read in the Belfast Telegraph the following day that “It took 16 pick-up truck loads to clear all the rubbish that was abandoned on the North Coast’s spectacular Portstewart Strand after visitors discarded beer tins, metal barbecues and dirty nappies — just metres from the bins.”

We have such a small country and some of the most stunning coasts in all of Europe. People need to realise the importance of clearing up their mess and stop spoiling things for the rest of us. We have to accept responsibility, not just for those of us here today but also for future generations.

Change starts with you!

Roy Benson,
Bangor.