All week, I had been looking at weather reports on several different websites to see what this late Cape winter would do on International Coastal Clean-up Day (21 September 2013). It looked promising and I assured every person who wanted to come out and help, that the clean-up was going ahead from the Strandfontein Pavilion.

On the day, which was still partly cloudy but, most importantly, not rainy, we arrived at Strandfontein beach. We were delighted to see a bus with 25 Surrey Primary School children, as well as other eager Capetonians already waiting for us.

Without further ado, Hayley McLellan and I started handing out bags, gloves and data collection sheets to volunteers. Every International Coastal Clean-up Day, volunteers do not only pick up litter, but they also record what they are picking up. This data goes towards an international database that is compiled by the Ocean Conservancy. All photos by Renee Leeuwner

Megan-Rose Francis (third from the right), a Young Biologist volunteer of the Two Oceans Aquarium, brought some friends along to help with the clean-up

Russell Stevens, head of education at the Two Oceans Aquarium, picked up some box bands which are usually used to close boxes. These are a huge problem for seals, for example, as they are playful animals that like swimming through things. Swimming through a box band usually means that it gets stuck around the neck of the seal and will eventually injure the seal badly

Most people expect large litter items such as cooldrink bottles to be the main items on beaches, but it is mostly small stuff that is lying around. These small items end up in the stomachs of animals and they can end up dying of starvation with a full stomach

This is why beach clean-ups are so important and people from all walks of life came to help

Even the rain, that did eventually make an appearance, did not drive anyone away and they kept going

Many larger items were found, from tyres to clothing and even wallets. The item that was of the biggest concern at Strandfontein beach specifically, was pieces of glass, as everybody found these

And just because it is a beach clean-up, does not mean that you should forget about the surrounding areas!

Thank you to the different organisations that came out to assist, such as staff from alive2green, Lawhill and Iziko Museums, as well as all of the children and teachers from Surrey Primary

Despite the temperamental weather, the day was a success with the beach looking cleaner than before, and it was great to see so many people coming out to do something good for the environment.

There are several clean-ups happening on the first Saturday of each month. If you would like to become involved, check out Cape Town Beach Cleanup on Facebook for more information. So why not make it a monthly thing and help clean up Cape Town’s beaches?

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