BEACH Buddies and Isle of Man Friends of the Earth have joined forces to send out a polite message to the ladies of Ramsey and the north: please stop throwing tampons, babywipes and cotton wool buds down the toilet!

Volunteers collected more than 7,000 such items during the latest Beach Buddies’ cleaning event on Ramsey beach, only three months after removing thousands more from the same stretch of coastline.

Amongst the volunteers was Phil Corlett of Isle of Man Friends of the Earth, who shares the concerns. He said, “I was pleased to be a volunteer on another worthwhile Beach Buddies event, but I was utterly taken aback at the thousands of sanitary items we and the other volunteers cleared off the strandline.

“I don’t understand why items like pads and tampons are even being flushed down the loo nowadays. Surely, ladies should know these things don’t biodegrade and just lie around for many, many years.

“The motto should be: ‘Don’t flush anything unless it’s toilet paper’ which is particularly important in the north, as this material is going into Ramsey’s marine protected area.”

Beach Buddies estimates that somewhere in the region of 50,000 tampons, babywipes and cotton wool buds a year are being needlessly disposed of loos in the north alone, causing massive pollution and a potential health hazard.

Beach Buddies founder Bill Dale said, “What is even more worrying is that all other sewerage outlets on the Island have a filtering system which traps items such as tampons and babywipes.

“So, it’s wrong to assume that it’s just the ladies who live in Ramsey and the north who are depositing these items down the loo. We estimate 50,000 annually in the north, but for the whole Island it’s got to be into the hundreds of thousands.”
He added, “We understand entirely that people are doing this because they don’t think it’s wrong, and there is no advice on the packaging to say otherwise.

“However, it’s obvious to anyone who walks along Ramsey’s North Promenade beach that there is a major problem in this area, and the only way to prevent this is to offer polite advice.”

The charity had 22 volunteers in action on Ramsey beach at the weekend, collecting a total of 7,204 items. The vast majority (80%) were tampons, and the remainder was made up of babywipes (10%), cotton wool buds (5%) and miscellaneous items (5%) of normal beach litter such as bottle tops, plastic bottles and tin cans.

The prize of a box of chocolates for the nearest guess on the number of items was won by regular volunteer Yvonne Knight who guessed 6,250.

• It’s understood that a filtering system is due to be installed at the Ramsey sewerage outlet, probably in 2016.

• This coming weekend Beach Buddies will be tackling a beach in the south of the Island following a report from members of the public. Volunteers will visit Spaldrick, Port Erin at 10.30am on Saturday, May 23rd. Parking is at the roadside glen entrance or at the Bradda Glen car park. The event has been switched to Saturday morning to give southside residents who have Sunday commitments an opportunity to attend.

Photo- One of the bags collected on Sunday at Ramsey Bay - jammed to the brim with tampons and babywipes.

• Beach Buddies runs team beach cleaning sessions every weekend, usually on Sunday mornings, lasting a maximum of 90 minutes. All ages are welcome and the necessary equipment is provided by the charity, with all items removed by Beach Buddies, and recycled where possible. We are very grateful to the sponsors who make this possible. These include AFD Software, SITA, Offshore Public Relations, WDS Limited, Celton Manx, the Department of Infrastructure, The Scott Trust, Isle of Man Photos, The Elizabeth Clucas Trust, The Society for the Preservation of the Manx Countryside, Blythe Financial, Aston International, Charlie’s Mum and Dad, Zero Waste Mann, Ramsey Grammar School, Andy Kerruish, Lloyds Bank, Bobby Sadler Agricultural, Santander, Merrill Lynch, Douglas Rotary, Cains, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Zurich, Shoprite and Juan Knight OffRoad.

• If your company would like to become part of this prestigious list please send an e-mail to find out about our sponsorship opportunities. Beach Buddies is a registered charity - No. 1158.

• Beach Buddies also runs corporate “team building days”, corporate barbecues (summer months), and hosts competitive corporate beach cleaning events.

• To register for e-mail updates on Beach Buddies or to find out about sponsorship or team building events please send a message to beachbuddies@manx.net or phone 496560