Saturday 3 May 2008

why do we let these things happen?

the beautiful beach where we have spent such happy, happy times has suffered from an act of unforgivable human stupidity




tar balls have been washed up along the entire shoreline
as of yet we do not know where this oil leak originated from, but it seems that the slick has been at sea for some time




only last week i took Ghillie down late one evening - just the two of us spending a little special time together x
i was astonished to see four dead sea birds on our walk but truly did not give it another thought when i returned home, on every trip there we see at least one bird that has been washed up.
but in hindsight i now wonder if this was the start of the tragedy.





the SSPCA say that as of yet they are not treating this as a major incident.......
i am not sure how many dead birds count as major



we have a great deal to answer for
to be blessed with such areas of great beauty and then to spoil them with what will no doubt turn out to be human error, is frankly unforgivable.



the balls of tar are currently being collected by hand and our precious beach is closed
once all this is over will it ever feel the same again?

i am ashamed of how we treat the earth we all live on
things have to change and soon

it is not enough to just recycle a few tin cans and cardboard boxes - we have to look at all the waste we produce.
here at home we have recycled for many years, which was definitely easier in the South East.
as of yet we do not have a facility for plastic recycling anywhere near us - we are campaigning for this to change but it may be a very long way off.
because of this we made the decision to stop as much plastic coming in to the house as possible...
no cartons of juice - buy the fruit and squeeze!!
no plastic bottles of cordial - buy the glass option - easy!
no bottles of shampoo and conditioner - order from LUSH - shampoo bars - brilliant!

if we all give it a little thought maybe, just maybe we can make a difference.

t x

14 comments:

GenerallyGemma said...

How utterly awful. I remember when it happened to our beach in Spain. I felt so violated somehow. That someone miles away had managed to effect something so beautiful on my doorstep. It is something we all need reminding of. And any excuse to buy some Lush goodness is always welcomed!

Here is hoping your beach is fully restored to you soon.

mollycupcakes said...

Oh honey I feel for you, how horriable for you to see this happening so close to you and on your beautiful beach. Those poor birds, it's very sad.
I just don't understand the world we live in, why do we have to have all these toxic things in it?
There is to much of well how can just me doing something green help if no one else is.
We had our compost bin delivered and I was so excited to get it out in our tiny garden. And we recyle everything we can and buy uk and organic items. I wish people would just open their eyes and see whats happening. But sadly we live in a world of put it off or don't do it at all.
Ok rambling over honey.
I hope it does stop you feeling the same about your beloved beach, don't let them win.

Hugs.

Catherine x

Bohemian Sister..... said...

That is so awful, i hate what people and businesses mostly are doing to our planet..... all i can say is karma.....and recycling is so important to me and my family, yet sometimes i do feel it is not enough especially when most people around us seem to scoff at the idea, it will be better for the younger generations they are taught so much at school, we learn so much from our 10 yr old !
I love lush shampoos too !
P.s. thanks for your kind comment (it was my first) no doubt i will be in touch at some time for whippy advice, we have had matilda for 2 wks today and she is a darling, as requested by you, i have more pictures on my blog.....

Pipany said...

That's terrible Tracy and I do agree with what you say; it can't all go on like this surely? Good luck qith the campaign for plastic recycling - you'l get there in the end xxx

trash said...

How awful for you. Hoping it is cleared up soonest and the eejit responsible is roundly beaten (or something!).

Barbara said...

Oh Tracy, what a shame about the beach. Poor birds. You are of course right about all the plastic. We have a new recycling centre near us and since we started recycling everything we could a while back we found that we halved our rubbish!

Must tell you that we (Milly) found a wee hedgehog sleeping in our old compost bin so I had to build a little barricade to stop her getting to it again but leaving it a gap to come and go. Where to put our compost now!!

And we have sparrows nesting inside the eaves of our house. The parents come with food and look all around before disappearing into a tiny gap near a pipe. Then there's a frantic tweeting while the babes are fed then silence when mum or dad go out again to find more food. Nature is just so fab and just goes on and on when it's left alone.

julie said...

It must really bring it home when you live in such an unspoiled place that is suddenly spoiled - kind of makes you a bit ashamed to be the same species as the ones causing such devastation. I hope that the clean up goes smoothly and that you and the wildlife can enjoy the beach again in all of it's untainted beauty. Thanks for mentioning shampoo bars - I'd never heard of them and am off to investigate now!

teacakebiscuit said...

Boo. How horrible. What's terrible is that potentially the spillage incident didn't go reported when it happened, it's like an ecological hit-and-run. Gah.

I'm also trying to cut down on my wastage too. I've as much as I can not used plastic bags for about two and a half years now (I still accidentally/unavoidably use the odd one or two every six weeks or so, but always re-use) and am also a Lush shampoo bar devotee. I also like that Lush make them in Dorset, ok that's still far away enough and involves travel, but at least they haven't been flown halfway around the world since their manufacture. Oh, and wherever possible I try to get biodegradable detergent (ESPECIALLY when we're in San Francisco as the water drains straight to the Bay) as the regular stuff can turn all the shellfish into girls. We need to look after our little world.

Poppy Black said...

Any dead seabird that is the result of human stupiditiy is a tragedy. I am so angry that this could happen. I look around at our world and there are acts of neglect, carelessness and destruction of our natural environment everywhere. But I must say thank you to you for being such an inspiration. We can always do better- keep reminding us! xxx
Ps. Loved your rant over at Gigibird's blog- I had a wee one too.

alice c said...

My father was involved in the clean up after the 'Torrey Canyon' disaster which spilled oil over the beaches of Cornwall. The knowledge that was gained from that and subsequent catastrophes have helped deal with spillages today and put in place legislation to minimise the chance of enviromental disaster. That is not to say that there will not be accidents or criminal acts (such as flushing tanks at sea) and each time the oil rolls on to a pristine beach it reminds us what is at stake.

Anonymous said...

I can only add my sadness to the other posts. Even though I chose the North Sea as my blog's title picture, and even though it looks pristine, that stretch of water is amongst the most – or maybe even *the* most - polluted on earth.

To respond to Nin's comment: I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 35 years and I can attest that though there have been nasty accidental spillages, including one very recently, they are caused by individual sewage treatment plans accidental failures. In the city in which I lived, as in several others that I know of , sewage water is actually cleaned and recycled for commercial/industrial usage. Still, it is probably not as perfect as it ought to be.

One good thing though: I never knew about solid block shampoo and I am definitely going to give it a try and pass the word on to my daughters and granddaughters especially.

weebug said...

how awful. and how right you are that all of us, just doing little things can make a difference.

Charlie P said...

Wow, you've really made me think. I recycle what I can (living in Germany makes it an awful lot easier!) but never really thought that if I stopped BUYING plastic I wouldn't have to throw it out. Thanks for sharing the tips and I hope your beautiful beach gets cleaned up ASAP x

Cape Cod Washashore said...

Oh that is so very upsetting! Believe me, I know how it is to live near the sea and see the damage done by neglectful humans.

I do like the sound of shampoo bars!