The shoreline at Scarlett nature reserve is looking spotless after a team from Fairbairn Private Bank helped the Manx Wildlife Trust with a beach clean.
Earlier in the month, an enthusiastic crowd of staff, children and dogs took time out of their busy weekend to learn more about the area and clear it of litter.
During the course of the afternoon, the volunteers managed to fill two industrial-sized wheelie bins full of rubbish that had been washed up on the shore.
Janet Taylor, Fairbairn Private Bank’s senior marketing executive, commented, "We have supported the Manx Wildlife Trust for many years and our staff enjoy the opportunity to play a part in protecting the Island’s scenery and wildlife.
"This initiative is particularly worthwhile when we read so much about the harm that discarded plastics can do to the environment. Helping out the wardens, while learning more about this unique area, made for a very lively and interesting afternoon."
Although any rubbish is an eyesore on land, plastic items on the shoreline can be lethal to marine life if they are washed back out to sea. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), more than one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals are killed annually by plastics in the seas.
Armed with gloves and rubbish sacks, the volunteers cleared the rocky shoreline of accumulated flotsam and jetsam. One of the worst offenders is the notorious plastic bag: according to DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), the average plastic carrier bag is used for five minutes but takes around 500 years to decompose!
Scarlett is a unique landscape of spectacular geographical formations and is home to an abundance of wildlife and plants. It is particularly renowned for its display of coastal flowers in the spring so the task for the afternoon was to clear the area so it looks its best when the flowers come through.
