Kiko beach event at Groats clears 67kg of rubbish
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A TOTAL of 67kg of rubbish was gathered during a beach clean at John O'Groats as part of a campaign organised by solo record-breaking rower Kiko Matthews.
Kiko cycled around the UK coast and parts of Ireland in a bid to raise awareness of how plastic is damaging the environment. She embarked on her epic Kik-Plastic cycle journey in May, covering 7200km before finishing last Friday in London.
The rower set a new world record when she rowed across the Atlantic solo and unsupported in March last year.
She said that reaching John O'Groats felt like "quite a milestone" for the team.
"Twelve volunteers joined us for a Saturday night beach clean and together we removed 67kg of waste, including a tyre and a right shoe," Kiko said.
Kiko took part on a beach clean on most evenings of the challenge and said: “My focus for this project is not to be the fastest, but to raise awareness of the problem of single-use plastic and engage communities to help tackle it.”
Local organiser Dorcas Sinclair of Caithness Beach Cleans, which can be found on Facebook, was pleased with how the local event went and said that among the folk joining in were some bikers taking part in a rally at John O'Groats.
My focus is to raise awareness of the problem of single-use plastic and engage communities to help tackle it.
She is urging locals to pick up plastic from Caithness beaches and take it home and weigh it and then upload a picture with the details to the group's Facebook page so it can be added to the grand total.
“We love a walk on the beach and are horrified at the problem that plastic causes,” she said.
“We started taking it home and weighing it and thought it might be interesting to create a group and any member can upload a picture of their ‘loot’.”
Among the other groups Kiko worked with was Durness-based Plastic@Bay as she took part in two beach cleans in north-west Sutherland.
Local volunteers joined in as rubbish was collected from Scouriemore and Balnakeil.
Kiko added: “The challenge isn’t just about cleaning up our beaches, it aims to bring communities together and is a great excuse to get outside with nature and do something positive for the planet and our health and wellbeing, all at once.”
Find out more at Kiko's website.
