oceans

Our beach clean began with a 2 hour drive up the most amazing coastline from Fionnphort to Ulva on the Isle of Mull (having stopped by Beluga II in Tobermory) to meet up with 3 very small local primary schools.

Cath and Janey from Marine Conservation Society arrived just after us, having had the same problems finding this quite beautiful and remote beach, only to find the school kids hard at work - getting stuck in to clearing up the seriously large amount of plastic waste.

Oh the irony. As part of a millennial-focused marketing strategy to associate Coca-Cola with beach holiday fun and sunkissed selfies, Coke last month launched its summer campaign. This year’s gimmick? Coke bottles labelled with exotic beach destinations and a competition to win glamorous holidays every day.

Why ironic? Because it's these very plastic bottles that are polluting the beaches and rivers of many of these holiday hotspots.

This week hasn’t been a normal “day at the office”. I’ve spent the last few days on board the Beluga II, the Greenpeace boat currently sailing around the Scottish coast to document and investigate the impact of ocean plastic pollution on Scotland’s internationally significant wildlife.

Last week I was standing over a pile of plastic Coca-Cola bottles, on a remote beach in Mull on the west coast of Scotland. 

Last month our ship the Beluga II set sail on a two-month scientific expedition around Scotland investigating the impact of ocean plastic pollution on some of the UK’s most beautiful landscapes and wildlife.