One of the most beautiful locations in the UK, Cornwall is almost entirely surrounded by the Atlantic, a magnificent coastline of some 300 miles. Boasting spectacular beaches and captivating fishing harbours, the surf provides a natural playground for locals and holidaymakers. And amongst the Cornish cream teas and surfboards, we find Beach Guardian.
Beach Guardian connects people with the environment to improve health and wellbeing, through regular community beach cleans and educational workshops with schools and other groups.
Every Can Counts has been working in partnership with Beach Guardian for over a year, so what better time to pack jumpers, wellies and waterproofs and head south-west in order to get involved in their fabulous work first-hand.
Against a backdrop of seriously wet and wild weather, the founders of Beach Guardian took us on a tour of the coastline, so we could see for ourselves how local businesses have implemented Every Can Counts on their premises. We got stuck into a beach clean and spoke to people who have a shared commitment to protect the environment. It is fair to say that we were cold, whipped by the gale-force winds, soaked to the skin, and most importantly – truly inspired.
For Emily Stevenson, Beach Guardian is a passion. With her bold statement of wearing a graduation gown made of Walkers crisp packets, Emily reaches out to the world to increase awareness of the need to protect our precious oceans.
We learn from Rob Stevenson, who co-founded the project with daughter Emily Stevenson, how small regular beach cleans blossomed into Beach Guardian.
Mother Ivey’s Bay is home to an award-winning holiday park and is one of the many sites Beach Guardian and Every Can Counts have worked with to support drink can recycling. Guests, team members and sustainability are at the heart of this long-established business. Owner Patrick explains how they got involved with Beach Guardian.
Every Can Counts has supported Beach Guardian by providing can collection bins and free-standing can crushers to sites across Cornwall, so people can recycle their drink cans more easily when they are out and about. If you would like to find out more about how Every Can Counts can support businesses and organisations in your local area, please get in touch by emailing everycancounts@alupro.org.uk or call the team on 01527 597757.