W A L K I N G  T O  S A V E  S O M E  S E A

M y   4 6 0 0 0  C h a l l e n g e

 
 
 
     
 

According to a United Nations report issued in June 2006, humankind's exploitation of the the deep seas and oceans is 'rapidly passing the point of no return'. I was really shocked to discover that there are on average around 46,000 pieces of plastic litter per square mile of ocean worldwide, leading to the death of over one million seabirds and over 100,000 marine mammals every year due to entanglement with or swallowing litter. Moreover, Greenpeace recently discovered that there is a vortex of floating pieces of plastic in the southern Pacific which is the size of Texas. Even worse, plastic can take 1000 years or more to degrade in seawater and even then continues to pollute our environment with thousands of microscopic fibres: samples of sand taken from a Northumbrian beach were found to have over 10,000 fibres per litre of sand...

     
  PLASTIC FANTASTIC?   Click here to find out more about plastics, their impact on our seas and wildlife and what we can do to help - including downloadable educational resources.  
     

 

   
The Challenge

I was so shocked that I was determined to do something about it. So I resolved to 'save' one square mile of ocean by collecting 46000 pieces of litter whilst walking on the beaches near my home. Every time I visited the beach I took 3 or 4 carrier bags and picked up all the litter I could carry. Whilst walking, I raised nearly £1000 for the Marine Conservation Society through sponsorship and sale of my unique seaside ‘souvenirs’. You can do your own bit to help by joining in the Marine Conservation Society's Coastal Challenge or by taking part in local river or beach clean-ups, such as Beachwatch.

My challenge took exactly a year to achieve - in total I walked over 200kms and carried away nearly a third of a tonne of rubbish!

 
     
   
     
 
Sadly, however, my challenge isn't really complete. Scientists estimate that the amount of plastic in the sea is increasing at a rapid rate, doubling every 3 years or so. By now, I probably should have collected around 100,000 pieces...This could be a lifetime's work and I still would not save a square mile of sea...

 

 

 

Walking

Whilst walking, I took photographs and created a book of what I saw, contrasting the seemingly unspoilt beauty of the landscape with the man-made debris which inhabits it.

Click here to see my photographs in sequence from the beginning of my challenge.

To see specific locations, click the following links:

Aldeburgh   Bawdsey   Covehythe   Dunwich 

Felixstowe   Orford Ness   Shingle Street   Sizewell  

Southwold   Thorpeness   Walberswick

 

 
   

Collecting

I have saved and photographed nearly everything from my walks - see some of my COLLECTIONS here

 

  

 

 

 

Babylon Gallery

In summer 2007 I took my collection of litter into the gallery with a solo exhibition at Babylon Gallery in Ely where I was the 2007 bursary artist. Click on the pictures below to see photographs of the exhibition.
 
 
See comments from the exhibition

Landguard Fort 

Walking to save some sea was installed at Landguard Fort in Felixstowe from 21st March until 5th May 2008.

Click here to see selected images from the exhibition.

For details see press release March 2008

Special open day event on 5th May Bank holiday - see details

          

 
 
Earlier press releases: press release Sept 2007   press release May 2007    press release October 2006
 
 
 

OK, so one square mile isn't much and it may have taken me a year to do it but what if EVERYONE tried to do something? If you've got any brilliant ideas or want to tell us about what you've done, let me know what you're up to - and where - and e-mail me some photos and I'll post a link here. Let's do our bit now!!!!

 
 

 

remember when visiting our coastline and wild places, leave nothing but your footprint...

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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