Millie Cooper from Manchester has fallen in love with the island over the past year, not only is she now working here, she has also set up a charity to try and help keep the beaches clean.
The charity, beachcleanbalearic, which has its own crowd funding page, is relatively young, having only been started at the beginning of the summer, but is highly active and attracting more and more volunteers as more cleaning days are organised.
The first big drive was ten days ago in Cala d’Or and Millie, whose partner, Francisco Martin, helps with the charity, intends to keep the beach clean up missions going until at least the end of September.
“At the moment I guess we have 25 volunteers of all ages and they are all very passionate about keeping the beaches clean. What is more, we have the support and backing of the local council in Sanitaryi, they’ve helped supply us with bags etc., because our funding is still rather limited, and we have teamed up which a diving company, La Santa Maria Excursions, so we are going to be doing land and marine clean ups. In fact, we’ve already done a dive clean and recovered sun beds, plastic chairs and sunshades.
“But, as the whole world has suddenly discovered, the biggest problem is plastic waste. It’s non biodegradable, slowly breaks down into micro beads and eventually enters the marine food chain which can not only kill marine species and birds but also end up on our plates.
“These millions of plastic beads will be lying around forever unless we all do something about it. The plastic waste is either left by beach goers, comes from yachts and ships or is blown away from waste bins on the beaches. We all know that plastic is extremely cheap and durable but at the same time it is cheap and dangerous.
“If you take plastic items to the beach, please don’t leave them. Use the waste bins provided or ideally take it home so the rubbish can be disposed of properly and securely well away from the beaches and sea,” Millie said.More information : https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/beachcleanbalearic?utm_id=107&utm_term=gNdZBW8W9