NEWS

Sculptures installed around Isle of Man to tackle plastic waste

‘Fill a fish’ sculptures installed to encourage recycling and reduce plastic waste around Isle of Man coastline.

Five beach clean sculptures have been installed in coastal locations around the Isle of Man.

The ‘Fill a Fish’ sculptures have been created as part of a Suntera Global initiative to encourage the disposal of plastic waste, which can be collected within the sculptures. They have been installed close to beaches in Douglas, Castletown, Peel, Port Erin and Ramsey.

Local creativity

Local primary school children designed the sculptures, with five different sea creatures chosen from over 600 entries. Farmyard Studio brought the creatures to life – among them a seal, a mackerel and a basking shark.

Two local charities – Beach Buddies, which tackles beach waste, and Isle Listen, a mental health charity – were also involved in the initiative.

Bill Dale, founder of Beach Buddies, said: “Around 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in oceans around the world each year. In the Isle of Man alone around half of all litter found our beaches is single use plastics. We need to change that and it’s been fantastic to work with Suntera Global on this initiative to provide islanders and visitors to our beautiful island with such a creative solution aimed at protecting our natural environment.”

Mark Reynolds, chief operating officer at Suntera Global, added: “We hope that the sculptures will encourage all those who are out and about enjoying our fantastic coastline to dispose of their waste properly, resulting in less plastic waste on our beaches.”

Help tackle plastic waste and find out if there is a beach clean near you – visit sas.org.uk

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Abi writes swimming news stories and features for the Outdoor Swimmer website and manages the social media channels. She loves to swim, run, hike and SUP close to her home in Herefordshire. While she’s a keen wild swimmer, Abi is new to the world of open water events and recently completed her first open water mile. She has previously written for The Guardian, BBC Countryfile Magazine, BBC History Magazine and Ernest Journal.