Littlefeet Environmental, a non-profit organisation that specialises in marine turtle conservation, said that dry and settled weather often led to an increase in domestic waste on the Island’s beaches.
The charity celebrated World Environment Day on Saturday by hosting a beach clean during which volunteers filled bags with litter collected from L’Etacq in St Ouen’s Bay.
Andy Farmer, co-founder of Littlefeet Environmental, said the message on picking up litter was one of ‘positive reinforcement’, rather than a lecture.
‘People are proud of our beaches and most Islanders are very responsible when picking up litter.
‘It is usually the minority who ruin it for others by leaving things such as disposable barbecues and empty cans on the beach,’ he said.
‘The warm weather can lead to an increase in littering, but our message would be that it doesn’t take long to pick up your rubbish and you can make a positive impact just by simply filling a bag with your waste when you leave the beach.’
Mr Farmer also said the organisation had noticed a ‘slight increase’ in the amount of domestic waste being left on the beach throughout the pandemic.
He added that disposable masks had created a significant problem.
‘At the start of the pandemic lots of people would leave their masks wherever, and with the wind or a storm the masks would get blown onto the beach and end up in the sea.
‘We hope that people will be responsible and make the small effort to pick up their rubbish and protect our wildlife before they leave the beach,’ he said.
