A beach clean up with Tootsa & Surfers Against Sewage

We love spending as much time at the beach as possible, having grown up surfing in South Africa the beach and ocean hold's a really special place to me and somewhere I love to share with my kids. My children are very aware of how important is it to keep the ocean clean and free from plastic so every time we head to the beach we take a rubbish bag with us and do a mini beach clean which is a surprisingly fun activity with young children. Although if your kids are anything like mine they might get a little competitive about who picks up the most rubbish and litter.

One of our favourite charities and one I became really aware of during my student days in Falmouth, Cornwall is Surfers against Sewage, a marine conservation charity which is helping to tackle plastic pollution and protecting the UK's coastlines for all to enjoy have just paired up with one of my favourite clothing companies that is Tootsa which focuses on unisex sustainable clothes for children and adults. Together that have made beautiful limited edition organic t-shirts and jumpers with the profits being donated to Surfers Against Sewage and they kindly set us these beautiful jumpers to help share the message of keeping our beaches clean.

Why do a #MiniBeachClean?

While Surfers Against Sewage do organise beach clean events they also encourage those to organise their own #MiniBeachClean - whether, with friends or just you and your kids, every action we take no matter how big or small makes a difference and is a small victory against plastic ending up in the ocean. Plus as I've said before it's a great feel-good activity for the school holidays and kids love it.

Just a few tips on a beach clean with kids

1. Always supervise young children
2. Be aware of the tide
3. Never pick up Syringes, needles or broken glass
4. Focus on plastic waste - do not attempt to clean up things like used coal & bbq waste
5. Pack a basic first-aid kit - just in case anyone gets cut it's worth packing plasters and anti-septic
6. Anti-bacterial gel and gloves - if you're planning a big beach clean up then it may be worth packing gloves but at minimum some anti-bacterial gel or spray to keep your hands clean.

This past week we wanted to go somewhere a little bit quieter, away from the maddening crowds as it gets so busy whenever the weather is good in Wales. Luckily some friends pointed us in the direction of a quiet cove near Barry and it made for the perfect base for an evening on the beach after school with a picnic packed. I was hoping because it was much quieter (only a handful on the beach on a beautiful Friday evening) that there wouldn't be that much plastic and litter as there are bins near the path to the beach and I always like to think positively and that people will work those 5 metres to the bin - however we are often proved wrong. During our beach clean up we found an array of plastic and rubbish from bottles to bouncy balls, wrappers, single-use utensils, polystyrene as well as coming across a lot of cigarette ends (a beach is not a big ashtray!), as well as clothing, just left!

In fact just before we set up our beach towel and make a little base for ourselves the couple that had been sitting to our right got up and left leaving a fizzy drink bottle stuck in the sand and multiple packets of crisps and chocolate - now those wrappers would directly go into the ocean at high tide - I just don't get it, we only have one planet and if everyone was a little bit more responsible things would be a whole lot better.

By the end of the evening, we had pretty much filled a whole bag which for a quiet beach is rather alarming but whatever we can do, even if it's just picking up a can on the way to the bin is a small victory. We also, of course, enjoyed the simple pleasures of spending a few hours on the beach, running around in the sand and in and out of the water as well as rock pooling (we actually stay there until 10pm - yes I know way past their bedtime but warm evenings like these are a bit of a rarity & I believe in making memories over strict routine). A simple visit to the beach really does offer hours of simple screen free time and what I loved about this cove was there wasnt even a shop nearby so we took a simple picnic, plenty of water and had a wonderful evening.

*I have kindly gifted the Tootsa jumpers. Words and views are 100% my own.