The Hope Community School and Burray School at the 4th Barrier.

What a lot of plastic!

After a day finding out about marine litter and thinking about the effects it has on the environment, it was time for pre-school to P7 children from The Hope School, and Burray School, to tackle the problem at the 4th Barrier.

setting off

 

Careful not to disturb the terns, the groups set off and scoured sections of the beach.

As well as the usual plastic bottles and pieces of sheet there was a surprising amount of  tyres and old creels and fencing wire.

 

P5,6 and 7

P3 and P4

P1 and P2

 While the older children conducted a survey of the litter they found, others had a Scavenger hunt and identified lots of natural things that we like to find on the beach, with RSPB Ranger Katy Norbury.

 

Ghost net.

 Undaunted at the challenging task of removing a ghost net from the dunes the P3 and P4s spent a lot of energy trying to excavate it, but finally had to give up. Can anyone out there with a tractor help us?

If you can please send us a photo!

 

The Eco Committee gathered at the bin for the application of the new sticker.

 

Pick Up THREE!!!

And everyone rolled, dragged and carried the rubbish back to the bin.

 

A fantastic amount was gathered up and the final pile of bruck was more than the bin could hold. What a difference was made to the beach - well done everyone and thank you for all your hard work!

Special thanks to Ms Towsey for organising funding and planning the big event.

Its great to have a bin for bruck at the 4th barrier - let's Pick Up Three Pieces each time we visit!

 

 

Pick Up Three for the Peedie Sea!

We all know that marine litter comes from land and that it gets blown or washed into the sea and that on its trashy journey it can cause harm to wildlife.

 

At Glaitness School the children are aware of all the birds that come to the Peedie Sea and in particular the swans - they are the School's logo! So as well as trying to make sure that the playground doesn't produce litter which gets blown across the road the P2s have crossed the road and picked up the litter they have found there.

 

Its a really busy part of town with 3 big supermarkets close by, as well as plenty of car parking and people visiting burger and snack vans, so a lot of litter collects there in our windy weather.

 

 

 

Well done P2F! We will look forward to the next development in your initiative 'Pick Up Three for the Peedie Sea'!

Playtime for Pick Up Three Pieces.

To try to stop litter from their playground getting blown and washed into the sea Glaitness have started a PU3P playtime litter picking team.

Great fun on a lovely day!

Evie and Firth learn about marine litter

Following their Bag The Bruck beach clean Evie and Firth have been finding out about marine litter and the damage plastics and plastic bags in particular can do. They know that plastic bags are very bad for turtles who think they are delicious jellies, and that the dreaded plastic bag monster should not be fed any more bags!

Bag monster in the school display.

Bottle top mosaic turtle.

Pick Up Three Pieces will be visiting next term - see you after the summer litter warriors!

Pick Up Three Pieces Posters

 

Glaitness Class 4 have been finding out about marine litter as part of their topic on 'Coasts' this term. They have made some great posters. There are a few more to come too!

Keep checking and we'll add those later.

 

Thank You P4 for helping spread the message!

St Andrew's P3 - Beach Plastic Creatures

Earlier this term St Andrew's School went to Dingieshowe to Bag the Bruck. P3 collected and kept red and yellow pieces of litter for their artwork, and, inspired by their minibeasts topic they created some amazing creatures!

 

If you are inspired by their work don't forget to Pick Up Three Pieces!

Litter warriors on a beach near you!

 

Over the last few months Pick Up Three Pieces has been busy in schools.

Looking at the videos made by The 5 Gyres got everyone thinking about the problem of marine litter in the oceans around the world.

Having a look at some of the pieces gathered on Orkney's shores helped everyone realise how much evidence of the problem is on our doorstep. It is not only a problem that is happening far away in the Pacific, but we are contributing to and receiving litter from the North Atlantic Gyre.

Some of the items were a surprise! Some had travelled from Canada from one side of the ocean to the other, perhaps swirling around in the gyre for a while on the way.

Almost all of it was plastic.

 

 

It was time to take action!

Children from Glaitness not only removed litter from their own local beach at Scapa but also visited Dingieshowe - quickly fillling the bin!

 

We think this bin needs to be a lot bigger!

 

Most of the litter found was short lengths of rope and packing bands, and bits of net.

All of this is potentially deadly for marine creatures.

 

On World Environment Day more children from Glaitness returned to Scapa and continued the clean up, aware that in order to clean the gyre we need to clean our beaches and remove the litter before it is blown or washed back out to sea.

 

 With every tide more rubbish is left on the beach, and through the winter it is covered by seaweed and sand and stones. It takes a keen eye and determination to remove the hundreds of small lengths of

plastic rope and line, and the sheets of shredded plastic film which break up easily when pulled out of the sand.

 

 

Its quite an achievement to fill the 1100ltr bin and shows what can be achieved by team work!

No item is buried to deep for these determined litter warriors!

Next time you visit a beach, consider whether it may be safer for wildlife, and more enjoyable for you, because of  the efforts of  groups or individuals like these litter warriors.

 

Why not follow their example, join in and 'Pick Up Three for the Sea'! 

We think you will find it challenging to stop at 3!