(copyright Andy Hearney)
During the #TheCoastlineRunner initiative I don’t listen to music as I run, I listen to our environment instead, but in my head this time was a track by The Shamen, as I hobbled from Fosdyke to Boston.
Why this song?
The concept of a 'World Oceans Day' (‘WOD’) was first proposed in 1992. In 1992, the hilarious ‘Ebeneezer Goode’ climbed to chart heights, before the Daily Mail brigade caught on…..and banning it beckoned. I recommend you click here, start listening and then read on; listening to it helps catch the context of the WOD’s birth, and why I (among many) ignored it.
a) Short thought and 10 points: WOD was proposed in Rio, as a way to celebrate our world’s shared ocean and our personal connection to the sea, as well as to raise awareness about the crucial role the ocean plays in our lives and the important ways people can help protect it.
Since then, we have trashed it, and increasingly so, day by day. The trashing is incremental and irrecoverable. Agh. Oof. The mind numbs, after just three facts;
· every one minute the equivalent of one truck load of trash goes into our oceans,
· over one hundred thousand marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement and ingestion (LH)
And the only way I know how to un-numb my brain now, is by running coasts….(!)......
We need to stop more plastics from entering our seas immediately (I run collecting shoreline plastic), as well as advocating for systemic changes, to stop the tap from flowing. The Norfolk Chapter report does that, with three economically and practicable viable suggestions for Norfolk County Council, and the Mayor of Kings Lynn to enact (photographed).
She will be reporting back, when she has recovered from illness.
The ten points of this report, for S11:
1. Start: Fosdyke Bridge (lh) – the bridge over the river Welland
2. Finish: Boston - The bridge over the river Haven.
3. Distance: 19 km
4. #TheCoastlineRunner initiative total distance: 244 km (225 km + 19km in S11)
5. How arrived: train to Boston and then taxi to Fosdyke (because of local bus failures)
6. How departed: train from Boston
7. S11 CO2e emitted: total CO2e emitted for this #TheCoastlineRunner endeavour is estimated at 336 kgs of CO2e (320 kgs + 16 kgs this stretch, using this
and trainline (LH) for calculations)
8. Plastic rubbish/trash observation: Because of the good work that Lincolnshire county council do in managing the towpath by the wash (and the good behaviour of path users who are mainly birders) there was little to collect, until striking the banks of the River Haven. The nearer we got to Boston the problem became the bigger.
And it is tideline-
9. Consumer litter: plastic waste, some drinking bottles, bags, crisp packets, food containers, Marine litter frayed rope and also some flytipping – mattresses and wheels. Being on the tideline it was destined for our oceans.
10. Shoreline plastics litter collected: by the end of S11 60 kgs collected and correctly disposed of.
b) Short report:
Slowed by the Morton’s Neuroma (LH) in my left foot, I had time to admire the beautiful butterflies, avocets and landfill sites near Boston (LH and photographed) and collect much
many more plastics. Are they plastic waste bombs – ready to go off when this coast is seriously flooded again (LH)?
We need to stop more plastics from entering our seas immediately (I run), as well as advocating for systemic changes, to stop the tap from flowing (the Norfolk Chapter report does that, with three economically and practicable viable suggestions for Norfolk County Council, and the Mayor of Kings Lynn ) (photographed)
She will be reporting back when recovered from illness. God's speed! Let's reduce the trashing of our seas!
Come on, Lincolnshire County Council - we can do better than this! We really can - call me - I will organise a clean up morning! It is desperate, it is urgent, it is possible.
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