Community Project

As part of the sustainable development module, the cohort were tasked on finding a project within our community that would be beneficial to our society. As sustainable development has mostly been about climate change and the environment, I was inspired by this and choose to do a beach clean on the 17thof November at Irvine beach behind Western Gailes Golf Club. It was a very different and unusual way for me to be spending my Sunday morning, but I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected as it was very calm and peaceful – much different to the way I have ever seen Irvine beach. It gave me a few hours just to reflect on a lot of things on my own and allowed me to understand a lot more on why this beach cleans happen.

I was really disappointed though, at the amount of litter I seen spaced across this area of the beach. There were bottles, nappies, food wrappers, empty carrier bags and much more – even items like child’s toys and clothes which could easily have been taken home after their visit. It has kind of harmed my faith in some of Irvine’s people as almost everyone knows the harms that leaving litter on a beach can have but they still choose to do it.   One of the main environmental impacts leaving litter on beaches has is its impacts on marine life and marine habitats. Litter and debris left on a beach can be blown into the sea and be ingested by marine life as it can be mistaken for a food source. For instance, plastic bags floating on the sea surface can resemble jellyfish which are a food source for many species of fish and turtles. Once ingested, materials such as plastics can cause considerable harm to a marine animal’s digestive system. Beach litter can also cause suffocation and entangle marine animals. One of the other problems associated with beach litter is that, once deposited on the seabed, it will take a long time to break down and disintegrate and will thus, remain there for a long period of time.(Department of the Environment Government of Gibraltar, 2013)

While in conversation with some of the people who run this beach clean at Irvine, they also mentioned that although beach cleans help with saving the environment, they also have an impact on the volunteer’s mental health. I understood what they meant as I’ve discussed above it was a very peaceful time for me, but I also found a study by Erin O’Neill at the Marine Conservation Society (2018) which backs it up. Early research showed that going to the coast (regardless of the activity you pursued) offered numerous benefits, including an improvement in mood. Interestingly, it also indicated that taking part in a beach clean actually enhanced these benefits. Specifically, participants doing a beach clean reported as having a greater experience and found it more meaningful than other seaside activities, including rock pooling and a coastal walk. Volunteers reported feeling refreshed and as though they had a stronger connection to the natural world after a beach clean, as well as perceiving the beach to be visibly cleaner. They also felt more informed and concerned about marine litter. This portrays that for many volunteers, even though they are having an impact on the environment they also really enjoy the time spent doing It and in the long run it ultimately helps their mental health.

Relating back to primary teaching, I would love to do this activity with a class full of children when doing a topic related to the environment. Although it would take a lot of planning and risk assessments it would give the children a bit of quiet time (which some of them may not get at home) while allowing them to learn about the environment and how they can do their bit to help save it. There was a lot of children at this event with their families and seeing how much they all seemed to enjoy it made me think about when I have my own classroom. I researched the GTCS Professional Standards (2006) and found a few which would relate to this activity:

  • demonstrate that they can select and use a wide variety of resources and teaching approaches, including digital technologies and outdoor learning opportunities;
  • demonstrate an ability to work co-operatively in the classroom and the wider learning community with staff, parents and partner agencies to promote learning and wellbeing.

Overall, this experience benefitted not just the environment and its species, but it also benefited me as a person and student teacher. I laughed when participating in the beach clean as most of the time I was thinking about how this activity would work with a class of children and how I could link it into their learning. It was a great experience and one I would definitely be inclined to do again.

 

Department of the Environment Government. (2013) The Environmental Impacts of Beach Littering. [Blog, Online] Available: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/new/sites/default/files/1/15/EnviroWatchIssue9.pdf. [Accessed: 25 November 2019]

GTCS Professional Standards. (2006) Standard for Initial Teacher Education [Online] Available: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/web/FILES/the-standards/the-standard-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf[Accessed: 25 November 2019]

O’Neill, E. (2018) Can Beach Cleansbe Good for Your Mental Health? [Online] Available: https://www.mcsuk.org/news/beach-cleans-health[Accessed: 25th November 2019] 

 

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