It took two adults and two small children more than an hour to collect this flotsam washed up along the Solent within the New Forest National Park.
The collection ended up weighing about 3 Kgs, despite cellophane and a large number of light, fly-away wrappers. The contents included hundreds of tiny pieces of plastic found in the shingle or blown inland.
Sorting the colours brought attention to objects that the Marine Conservation Society would classify under ‘sewage’, ‘fishing’ and ‘litter’, thankfully well washed in seawater.
Plastic straws and cotton bud stalks have thankfully been banned but plastic pollution remains a huge problem. We need to do what we can to turn the tide.
What most distresses me are signs that birds are confusing styrofoam with the natural remains of cephalopods that they peck at in search of calcium.
I sort out the marine rope and fishing tackle, which is stored for a future project.
All this, and broken glass, was collected from a beach where children play. There are serviced, wildlife-proof litter bins, and since it is remote, requiring a parking permit, it is never crowded.
For photos of a previous Solent Beach Clean – please click here. You can see which items turn up month after month, such as green ‘sea kisses’ and tampon applicators.
Sophie Neville 
It’s horrendous, what you find on the beach. And, as you say, a hazard for children and wildlife. It’s lovely to see the happy photo at the end of the post; just such a shame you found so much litter.
I last cleaned this beach about 5 weeks ago, but others try to keep it clean too. Let’s see what the storms bring in.
I think you all do a tremendous job. Let’s hope the storms aren’t too bad.
It’s almost as if the sea uses the storms to spew out heavy items.
The power of wind and water can be very frightening.