#WaveOfWaste bodyboard dress raises awareness of beach waste
Written by News on 23/09/2017
A dress made of fabric taken from 100 disposable polystyrene bodyboards found on the beaches of Devon and Cornwall is going on display in Newquay to highlight the amount of waste the cheap boards create.
The stunning dress, named #WaveOfWaste, has a 22-metre (72ft) train and took designer Linda Thomas two months to make.
It will be modelled by former pro surfer Emma Adams, who lives in the town, and then taken round the country to raise awareness of the issue as part of charity Keep Britain Tidy’s BeachCare campaign.
Dr Thomas says she was "shocked" into taking action by a picture of a wall of boards – or ‘snappers’ – she saw in 2016.
"I wanted to create something eye-catching to highlight the problem," she said.
"I understand the issue, as I bought one of these ‘snappers’ for my son years ago not realising what they are like, it was so rubbish for catching waves and didn’t last the season.
"I want to help other families to be informed so that their child can have a better, safer time in the sea. Even if money is a big issue, these ‘snappers’ are such poor value that they are letting down both families and the environment."
BeachCare collected 560 of the cheap and poorly constructed bodyboards this summer from just three beaches.
They were dumped in sand dunes, left on the beach or stuffed in bins.
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Neil Hembrow, Keep Britain Tidy’s BeachCare Officer, says, as well as being disposable, the boards are expensive in terms of the resources needed to get them to customers.
"These cheap boards are manufactured in China, shipped more than 11,000 miles, distributed to stores and surfed for 10 minutes before breaking and going to landfill," he said.
"They are shipped across the planet to end up buried in the South West.
"We are only touching the surface here. The impact of more plastic entering our marine environment is devastating for wildlife and we also estimate that more than 14,000 of these boards are heading to landfill each summer season, costing taxpayers’ money."
BeachCare has been trying to find a way of recycling the waste, but while some of them are dealt with, re-processing polystyrene is difficult because of salt and sand contamination and the substance has little recycling value because it is high volume and light. Transportation costs often exceed the value of the waste.
:: To get involved in Sky Ocean Rescue, visit the campaign website here. You can also watch our documentary, A Plastic Tide.
(c) Sky News 2017: #WaveOfWaste bodyboard dress raises awareness of beach waste
