Hundreds of plastic bottles, sweet wrappers, and food packaging were discovered by Beach Buddies volunteers during a clean-up at St Ninian’s Lower School in Onchan, prompting concerns over the school’s “serious litter problem.”
The charity, which has operated for over 19 years, described the findings as “unprecedented” for an inland clean-up, with 415 plastic bottles collected in just 90 minutes.
Volunteers also removed “thousands” of small plastic wrappers and food packets from the grounds.
Beach Buddies founder Bill Dale said: “Something needs to change to prevent this happening again.”
The charity plans to meet with the school after exams conclude to discuss solutions.
Education
Longtime environmental campaigner Phil Corlett, who alerted Beach Buddies to the issue, criticised the lack of education around littering.
“I’ve said this before—this lack of pride, care, or concern for their environment seems to be spreading,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be any education on ‘not littering’ the school grounds… and it appears very little, if any, consideration about recycling.”
Corlett questioned whether pupils face consequences for littering, adding: “Surely pupils/classes could go out and monitor/clean up the grounds, perhaps once a week?”
Beach Buddies has run school education programmes since 2006, which they credit with significantly reducing litter across the Isle of Man.
However, Sunday’s clean-up highlighted a worrying trend. “Every volunteer came back with bags brimming to the top with rubbish,” Dale said. “It is pretty much impossible not to link this rubbish with the school.”
While the Isle of Man remains a global example in community-led environmental efforts, Beach Buddies warned against complacency. “There comes a point where we have got to draw a line and speak up before we go seriously backwards,” Bill said.
“Today we have reached that point.”
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