Environment Minister goes out on patrol with PlasticBusters
We were honoured to have Geoffrey Boot MHK, Isle of Man Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture and his wife Suzie actively participating in one of our PlasticBusters group events a few days ago, when we organised a clean-up activity around the banks of the Middle River, by the industrial estate, and the River Glass, around the perimeter of the National Sports Centre.
This is an area we continue to monitor closely given the proximity of the two rivers as the litter could easily enter the water, polluting our coastline and sea and imperilling bird and marine life.
Although we had only cleaned these areas in early March this year, unfortunately they were again full of litter, and our team of 15 volunteers managed to fill 20 bags with waste, retrieving larger items as well, including a rug, a kettle, a large kitchen bin, books and even a lawnmower!.
This was also an excellent opportunity to share and discuss with Minister Boot our challenges and concerns with regards to the litter polluting our environment and the activities PlasticBusters is carrying out to preserve the ecosystems of this unique UNESCO Biosphere nation.
The activity has been covered by UNESCO Biosphere IOM Newsletter (link to the article)
PlasticBusters has collected over 2,400 pounds of litter so far this year.
Thanks so much to all volunteers!
Note: All materials collected in our activities are properly sorted and taken to the nearby amenity site (the Eastern Civic Amenity Site in this case) for disposal/recycling.