Leaving Plett detrashed

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PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Nearly 100 people converged on Lookout Beach on Saturday 4 June for a beach clean-up alongside the Nature's Valley Trust (NVT) and Pick n Pay People n Planet.

While World Environment Day is held annually on 5 June, NVT and co-held the beach clean-up the day before to get as many people involved as possible.

It is a great time of the year to carry out a clean-up at Lookout as well as in the dune area along the beach as the shore birds are out of their breeding season. It is a protected area that, outside the realm of the shore birds, also hosts one of the largest kelp gull breeding colonies between Lookout Beach and the Keurbooms peninsula.

PHOTO GALLERY: World Environment Day clean-up at Lookout beach

Ninety-six people took part in the clean-up, 59 of whom were children and learners between the ages of two and 17. The youngsters joined parents, guardians and teachers who made up the remainder.

Data collected and tallied during the clean-up shows that nearly half of the items collected were plastic-related, with over 513 pieces collected throughout the morning. A large portion of the items collected was food wrappers and cigarette butts. Other items found included shoes, socks, face masks, cord, batteries, wire, earbuds, toys, paper, construction materials, foil and balloons.

Another interesting find was a stranded penguin. NVT director Hendri Coetzee put the previous day's stranding training to use, rescuing the bird which was then handed over to Chanel Visser of CapeNature and the Plett Stranding Network.

NVT Director Hendri Coetzee gets his hands dirty.

The theme for this year's World Environment Day was "Only One Earth" and part of the celebration was a look back at five decades of awareness and support in action to protect the environment and all that depend on it.

"We as society are crucial advocates in raising awareness for the issues our environment and oceans are facing from climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution," NVT said in a social media statement after the clean-up.

"We applaud the efforts of the day in this celebration and awareness event with participants conquering the full stretch of Lookout Beach and collecting over 15 bags of waste along the way."

The clean-up wasn't restricted to the beach, as participants extended into the dune area too. Photos: Blake Linder