BEACH CLEAN-UP
Pureshore, inspired by the British coastline & dedicated to its conservation and clear up.
“We would like to give back to the spectacular coastlines that continue to inspire our designs. “
What better way to spend a Saturday than on the beach! However, this time it was slightly different to laying out the towel and umbrella, my family and I were actually assisting the Marine Conservation Society with their first beach clean-up for March. For a long time now, my children have been talking to me about the importance of eradicating single use plastics from our household. They refuse to take plastic bottles anywhere and are always keen to see that any paper and packaging we receive is recycled. They are also great at creating toys out of packaging waste such as a Star Wars base, painted and upscaled from a large piece of polystyrene and ‘Christmas presents’ for the Sylvanian Families created from packaging from a well-known lunchtime eatery.
I’ve always been a hoarder as I hate the idea of throwing things away needlessly with the thought that they may one day become useful again (it may take 20 years, but they generally do!) I’m the same with jewellery as I’ve always felt that today’s treasure will have a resurgence again in the future. I have several drawers full of costume jewellery, which has witnessed a comeback several times already in my lifetime!
The most upsetting environmental impact we’ve seen from single use plastics is on our marine life. Current statistics estimate that eight million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans each year. We see images of turtles with plastic bags lodged in their stomachs that they have mistaken for jellyfish. We’ve seen seabirds carrying pieces of plastic believing it to be food or good nesting material. We hear about plastic waste getting trapped in coral reefs affecting their overall health. We also now know that microplastics that we humans have released into the sea, are ultimately ending up in our stomachs as they enter the food chain through plankton.
The world has woken up to this problem and shops and product manufacturers are starting to address the plastic issue as are the consumers, but there is still a long way to go. We can all do our bit by cleaning up our act (literally). Taking part in a beach clean is a really good way to start. It gets everybody outdoors for some fresh air and is great to know you are making a difference to our seas, our beaches and ultimately the future of our planet. We found a lot of bottle caps, which the kids pointed out could have been eaten by the various sealife. We’re nowhere near perfect but I have to admit it felt reassuring to know that the litter we did pick up won’t be ending up back in our ocean.
We also did a spot of beach combing at the end of the day and came up with some inspiration for the next Pureshore Collection! The awesome beauty of Britain’s coastline has inspired artists and designers for centuries and we would like to ensure it continues to do so for centuries to come. Every piece of jewellery we produce goes towards our efforts to keeping Britain’s beaches magnificent. We would like to give back to the spectacular coastlines that have inspired our Pureshore Jewellery designs. We will definitely be out on the beach again with a bucket and our litter picker in the next few weeks!
Olivia – Co-Founder, Pureshore Jewellery
