Attendees at the coalition's first brainstorming workshop in April 2016
Raw material waste at a Cornish plastic production plant - the coalition will be working to lobby the plastics industry to commit to reduce losses of these microplastics
The Mounts Bay Rotary Club and Pirate FM held a small balloon release in May 2016 - which sparked the coalition's first action
The 'Abominable Multi-Coloured Balloon Coat' made by the CPPC's Delia Webb from balloon pieces found around Cornish beaches to highlight the issue of balloon litter
Map showing the location of balloon debris found over a six-month period in Cornwall - submitted as evidence to call for a county-wide ban on balloon releases
Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition
One subject that unites all the marine conservation organisations in Cornwall is the issue of ocean plastic.
The Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition came into being in 2016, with Rame Peninsula Beach Care being instrumental in forming this specific working group, which started among members of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Your Shore network. We felt we could make more of a difference by joining forces to give us more clout in lobbying work with authorities and corporations.
Over the next year, the coalition grew and grew, to the point where it now includes well over 30 environmental and beach cleaning organisations and marine science experts, including the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the National Trust in Cornwall, Truro Cathedral and the RSPB. Between us, we represent the concerns of tens of thousands of people in Cornwall and beyond.
The idea is to harness the many amazing skills and specialist knowledge of the different groups and individuals. We generally work through template letters that can be sent out quickly in response to different issues and incidents, for example organisations' corporate balloons found on Cornwall's beaches. We also produce reports, respond to government consultations, carry out interviews about plastic pollution and give talks and presentations - including in Parliament and at the European Commission.
We meet twice a year, and the main areas we act on are:
Balloon releases
Microplastics, including pellet losses from local plastic plants, and cosmetic microbeads. Particular focus on biobeads (plastic pellets used in wastewater treatment and found in vast numbers on Cornish beaches), with an in-depth report on this issue published in October 2017, which can found here:
Single use plastics, particularly bottles - supprorting Surfers Against Sewage's Message in a Bottle campaign, calling for the introduction of a bottle deposit scheme (DRS) to reduce bottle related litter.
You can find the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition on Facebook and Twitter
To date, the members of the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition are:
Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Surfers Against Sewage
Widemouth Task Force
Helford Voluntary Marine Conservation Area
National Trust in Cornwall
Truro Cathedral
Transition St Agnes
Prof. Brendan J. Godley, Chair in Conservation Science, Director of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter (Penryn Campus)
Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust
Polzeath Marine Conservation Group
Rame Peninsula Beach Care
Friends of Portheras Cove
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Fishing for Litter South West
Cornish Seal Sanctuary
Looe Marine Conservation Group
St Agnes Voluntary Marine Conservation Area
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
#2 Minute Beach Clean
Capturing our Coast
Exeter & Falmouth University Students Union
Newquay Marine Group
Widemouth Task Force
West Cornwall Friends of the Earth
Atlantic Diver
Falmouth Marine Conservation
Sustainable St Agnes
Love Portreath
Friends of the Fowey Estuary
Transition Falmouth
Transition Truro
Newquay Crab
Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing
Prof. Richard Thompson (Plymouth University Marine Sciences Dept)
Fathoms Free
Cornwall Federation of WIs
Crackington Crew
Fishy Filaments
Truro Green Street Volunteers
Friends of Poldhu
Friends of Polurrian Beach
The Plastic Movement
The Final Straw Cornwall
Mounts Bay Marine Group
@Refresh Porthleven
Lizard Peninsula Friends of the Earth
Beach Guardian CIC
Rame Wildlife Group
ReFILL Bude
ReFILL Cornwall
Smartie Lids on the Beach
PL24 Community Association
A Greener Bude
The Happy Turtle Company