Beach cleaning with WE Sustainability

This month, Coruña British International School in conjunction with WE Sustainability participated in a beach cleaning initiative to help clean beaches in the city of A Coruña, as part of the 4 Houses, 4 Causes solidarity campaign. Organised over two days, the children in their house teams competed to collect the most rubbish from two different beaches. Even though it was a competition that inspired house spirit and collaboration, it also formed part of our Eco-Schools Sustainability program and was an important way to educate our students about the environment and our responsibility to look after it. In this way, children learnt about the various materials that could be found on the beaches, where they came from and how they could harm the environment.

Upon arrival, the children broke off into smaller house groups and worked through rain and shine. Everyone was very enthusiastic during the process and it was amazing to see what was found lying around. From fabric scraps and wet wipes to flip flops and fish hooks, children scoured the beaches, remarking at their success.

At times, it seemed that the amount of rubbish was endless! While great for the competition, it was at the same time disappointing to see how dirty our local beaches were. In the end, Durham house was the winner, collecting 43kg of rubbish! However, in total the children collected a staggering 101kg! That’s 101kg less rubbish on our beaches to hurt our local environment, a fantastic effort from our students! Now, every time they visit the beach, we hope that our students will be more mindful about the rubbish they leave behind and help to ensure that their impact is minimal.