Blister packs are notoriously difficult to recycle due to being made from multiple materials (plastic, foil, medication residue) yet with the help of the company My Group based in Hull, they are helping reduce Brixham’s medication waste.
Hannah said “My Group are able to recycle every bit of the product, which is amazing! So please save up your empty blister packs and bring them along on Saturday 11th July, to our first community collection on Fore Street! We’ll be there from 9.30am till 1pm, outside Tesco. And if you’d like to support the scheme moving forward funding wise (we have to pay per box we fill and send off) do please get in touch!”
Hannah moved to Devon from Yorkshire in 2019 and launched her social media page Me & the Plastic Sea in 2020.
Every month, she walks a three-and-a-half-mile loop between Brixham and Paignton, documenting her findings and recording the amount of litter collected to raise awareness of the issue.
Since then, Hannah has received three letters from Sir David Attenborough, won Brixham Town Council’s Environmental Ambassador award, and, more recently, been invited to the Houses of Parliament for the launch of the Great British Spring Clean, now in its 10th year.
Running from March 21 to April 6, the Great British Spring Clean encourages communities to pick up litter and improve local environments. Residents are invited to pledge to collect at least one bag of litter during the campaign.
A recent survey by Keep Britain Tidy revealed that only nine out of every 100 locations in England are litter-free, with over 90 per cent of the 1,140 miles of surveyed urban and rural sites containing rubbish.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “Our report is a wake-up call. It shows that litter is more than an eyesore—it prevents investment, creates inequality, damages the environment, and makes people feel depressed and unsafe. It’s unacceptable that the most deprived communities bear the brunt of the country’s litter problem.”
Hannah, who picks up litter whenever she can, is among those working to tackle the issue.
“People are always shocked by how much litter I find on each walk, especially if they haven’t seen my page before,” she said.
“The response has been really positive. I’ve always loved David Attenborough, and I want to make a difference in the world. One person alone can’t change everything, but small actions add up. I’ve had people tell me they started litter picking after seeing my posts, which is amazing. If everyone did a little bit, I believe we could change the world.”
Hannah has also completed 24-hour litter-picking marathons to improve her fitness and raise money for charity, including Manorlands Hospice, where her grandmother received care before passing away in 2019.
During her recent ambassador visit to London, she helped clean up the Thames with fellow litter enthusiast Flora, who founded Washed Up Cards, a company that creates greeting cards using plastic collected from UK beaches.
Hannah said: “It was a lovely couple of hours chatting with someone whose brain seems to work like mine! We found so much of the same rubbish—Nerf gun bullets, shoes, plastic bottles—along with more unusual items like religious and cultural offerings, loads of polystyrene, and of course, glass and pottery, which I happily pocketed! We even found two googly eyes, two footballs, and a toy car.”
Reflecting on the Great British Spring Clean launch, she added: “It was wonderful to meet other ambassadors, and I felt incredibly lucky to have this opportunity. What a way to celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science—the amount of marine and plastic-related knowledge I’ve taught myself over the years and (I hope!) shared with others is crazy!”
As part of the Great British Spring Clean, Hannah is walking 30 miles around Torbay—litter picking along the way—to raise money for The Patchwork House, a charity that provides emotional support and practical advice to help people escape domestic abuse.
The 30-mile distance represents the statistic that every 30 seconds, police receive a call related to domestic abuse.
This spring Brixham residents and visitors will benefit from £750,000 of public realm improvements to the harbourside.
Torbay Council and Brixham Town Council have been working on ideas that will make Brixham harbour an even more attractive and vibrant place.
Emerging ideas include:
Installing new 600 litre solar smart compacting bins, that will prevent the bin from overflowing and reduce the amount of street clutter.
Mounting approximately 250 metres of LED festoon lighting around the harbour.
Replacing seating and benches and adding seasonal feature planting such as colourful hanging baskets.
Improving access and public safety around the harbour / fishing port.
Providing safe launching, landing and mooring facilities for paddleboard and kayak users.
Improving way finding and directional signage to enhance the visitor experience.
Repainting the harbour railings, pillars, lamp posts and Quay Market structure.
Until Friday 21 February, residents and businesses, particularly those based in Brixham are encouraged to view the proposals and share any other ideas they may have.
There are several ways that people can view and comment on the proposals over the next three weeks:
Attend one of the face-to-face events taking place on Saturday 8 and Wednesday 19 February, 10am until 2pm, at the Scala Hall, TQ5 8TA
The improvements are being funding using £750,000 of government grant funding that Torbay Council secured through the Levelling Up Partnership.
SWISCo will start work on the improvements this spring. Improvement and installation work will be carried out in phases, ensuring it does not impact on spring and early summer events.
Our next Open Meeting is at the Berry Head Hotel on Tuesday 21st November at 7pm. It is themed around the Environment and Sustainability and we have a number of exceptional and inspiring speakers lined up for the evening.
How do seals mate?
How many discarded bags of dog poo can you pick up in a year?
Why is Berry Head so important for Greater Horseshoe bats, migrating birds, and rare flowers?
How can my business reduce its carbon footprint?
For the answer to these questions and more, come and join us!
Local naturalist Duncan Kenny has just returned from an eight-week project researching seal pup mortality on a remote island in the Irish sea. Duncan says “I will be illustrating the beautiful wild lives I observed and some of the successes and the challenges both the seals and I faced”. His research informs us about our local marine habitats, and the seals in Brixham, which he knows well from his wild swimming and involvement with the Seal Project.
Hannah Beaumont is a local hero! You may know her from her Facebook pseudonym Me and the Plastic Sea, where for some years she has been cataloguing the piles of litter (and bags of poo) she has collected from our local coastline. On November 17th Hannah is setting off on her latest litter picking marathon, 26.4 miles of coastline from Brixham to Kingswear, Galmpton, over to Goodrington, and back home. She’ll be talking about her relentless litter picking and how we can all help to look after our coast.
Mike Langman is one of the country’s most knowledgeable bird enthusiasts and illustrators. Since 2015 he has been coordinating a determined group of volunteers to protect and enhance the wonderful natural environment at Clennon Lakes, one of Torbay’s most important (and previously neglected) wildlife sites. This is a great local example of how, with determination, we can protect and enhance our beautiful spaces and give nature a fighting chance.
How exactly should we go about reducing our carbon footprint? There is currently an initiative for businesses to get free consultancy advice on this topic, from the South West Manufacturing Advisory Service. Phil Halse will be joining us to talk through some examples from recent business sessions he has run in this area, and how we can take advantage of this help for our own businesses (hint: they have a free event in Brixham on 7th December).
Our Chamber meetings are open to all – non-members are welcome. Please let us know you’ll be coming, at hospitality@brixhamcham
Brixham’s Hannah Beaumont spends up to eight hours every week litter picking on Brixham’s beaches and made it through to the semi-finals of Eventbrite’s Hobby Hero competition. The competition was launched in May to find Britain’s greatest hobbyist and help them share their pastime with others in an effort to get the nation connected again. The competition was won by Teresa Fisher, a 1940’s promenader.
Hannah, who is a support worker for Yes! Brixham, took up the hobby four years ago in Yorkshire after she was inspired by her grandfather who litter picked each day. Hannah moved to Brixham three years ago and now beach cleans up to three times a week. On weekends, she can litter pick for up to five hours, filling two industrial sized bin bags.
She says: “I started litter picking as an enjoyable and relaxing way to pass my time, but over the years I’ve become a committed conservationist. I tend to litter pick by myself, but sometimes other people will join me. I clean under the name of ‘Me and the Plastic Sea’ and you can see pictures of what I find on my social channels.
“Sadly, the litter seems to get worse each year, and has been especially bad since the pandemic. I find so many face masks, alongside plastic straws, fishing wire and cigarette butts. I once found a Kellogg’s toy from the 1950s, but the strangest thing I found was a fish paste dish from the 1800s. I now use it as a soap dish! The most frustrating collection though was over 100 poo bags. There’s no excuse for not taking your litter away with you.
“David Attenborough is my hero. I’ve written to him twice now and he’s replied both times. I’d love to meet him. Had I won the Eventbrite Hobby Hero competition, I would have used the money to buy myself a new mobile phone. The one I have now has fallen out of my pocket and into the water and sand so many times that I’m amazed it still works.”
Eventbrite’s Sebastian Boppert says: “The entries we received ranged from the more traditional to the weird and wonderful, and Hannah’s stood out as a really worthwhile and inspiring hobby. Hannah clearly dedicates a lot of time to her hobby, and it must be having such a positive impact on her local environment.
