There are thousands of beaches around the world and equally as many people who visit these beaches on a daily basis. We really need to look after the beaches we visit. No matter how long you spend on the beach, you are bound to leave behind a mark that could affect it in the future. Whether that is dropping your litter and leaving it there or disturbing wildlife that live on the beach.
With the ever growing problem of climate change and plastic waste, this really does have a massive effect on the beaches we have around us. I want to share with you my top tips on how we can look after the beaches we have around us, whilst enjoying our time there.
10 WAYS TO LOOK AFTER THE BEACHES WE VISIT // CHANGE THE WAY YOU BEACH IT UP
01. Clean up your waste before you leave
If you are eating on the beach, smoking or opening something, please make sure you clean up after yourself before you leave and throw your rubbish in the bins located around the beach. There is nothing worse for someone to sit down or be walking along the beach and walk into your rubbish you’ve left behind. I can’t count how many beaches I have been that have cigarette butts mixed into the sand and it just ruins it so much.
02. Do not disturb wildlife and ocean life
If you are snorkeling or swimming in the sea, please be careful not to disturb wildlife and ocean life whether it’s a coral reef or a school of fish. Sometimes it’s not always easy to avoid disturbing them but please try your best. The smallest disturbance could really impact the food chain and life in the ocean.
03. Leave as much sand as you can on the beach
This may sound silly but try to leave as much sand as you can on the beach without as the wildlife will need it. This is why I love my Tesalate beach towel as it’s quick drying and is easy to get sand off it even when wet.
04. Bring a metal water bottle with you
Save on the plastic bottles and bring a metal water bottle with you. You can ask a restaurant or cafe to top your bottle up with fresh cold water (as long as it’s drinkable water) without it costing you anything. Your metal bottle will keep your water cold and fresh for up to 24 hours which is perfect if you are in a hot country. It also saves you chucking away plastic water bottles after one use which saves the landfill from plastic that doesn’t recycle for years.
05. Feed yourself and not the animals
If you do decide to bring food to the beach, make sure it’s for you, and only you! Don’t disrupt the diets of the animals, such as birds or fishes, that are sharing the shore and sea with you.
06. Cut the 6 pack
Don’t worry, you don’t have to cut root beer out of your diet to help out! Simply grab some scissors to cut apart the plastic wrapping of your 6 pack to make sure animals don’t get caught in the holes. If you see any 6 pack rings around on the beach, please pick them up and cut them into smaller pieces to stop the birds and marine life getting caught in them.
07. Join a local clean up incentive
If you live near a beach or are visiting a beach, make sure you check out any local volenteer groups that you could join to help clean up the beach. If you are staying in or near a place that asks for volunteers, make sure you join them and help them spend a few hours picking up rubbish from the beach one day.
If you didn’t leave any waste, try to pick up others waste before you leave the beach so that it will be clean for the next person who wants to enjoy the sand. You don’t even have to join a volunteer group, you can do it off your own back and in your own time, just pick up a handful of rubbish you can see around you to do your little bit.
08. Consume sustainably caught seafood
If you eat seafood, research the fish you buy and restaurants you eat at to. Make sure you are not contributing to an unethical and unsafe practice.
09. Donate to charity
Give money to charity! You can donate to any local organization close to your ocean-loving heart. You can also contribute by supporting a marine national park in your area.
10. Change your sunscreen
Buy organic sunscreens, or look with a sun protectant with safe ingredients. Keep your skin safe from harm, while also decreasing potential threat to the ocean.
Images used in this post are credit to Pixabay and Julia Kuzenkov on Pexels.
PLEASE SHARE AND GIVE THIS POST SOME LOVE !!
How do you look after the beach? Then let me know in the comments below.
Happy travels,
Such a great post! There are so many people who don’t know how to leave nature as they found it
– Stef | livinlikestef.com
I follow many of these anyway but I’ll be sure to do them all now! I love the beach and they deserve to be protected!
-Kyra
Awh that’s good, I’m glad! 🙂 It makes me so angry when I see people abuse the beach 🙁 x
This is a fantastic post! So important to be mindful when we are visiting beaches! x
Linda
Thank you! We need to look after our beaches more and most people are so inconsiderate when they visit a beach, it makes me so angry x
This is so important!! I grew up by the beach and hated it when I saw rubbish and people not doing anything about it.
Loving the idea of buying sustainably caught seafood – I am not a seafood lover myself but people really don’t realise how much difference that could make.
Thank you for sharing x
Thank you, I’m glad you liked this post. Awh I would have loved to have grown up or live by the beach – I bet the views were amazing. Tell me about it, even on holiday it annoys me when I see people leave their rubbish everywhere. It’s so disgusting.
I rarely eat seafood being veggie but I make the exception for prawns, cod and salmon and that’s about it. But yes sustainably caught seafood can make such a huge difference.
Thank you for reading x