The funds are to enable Greener Orkney to fulfill two paid roles over the winter months to facilitate the collection and analysis of the marine litter on the islands of Westray, Sanday, Stronsay and North Ronaldsay. The roles include working with local community groups to run a series of coastal cleans through to March 2025 and to analyse the weight and composition of the data gathered. This project was a result of initial information identified during “Bag the Bruck” where it was noted that there were particularly large amounts of marine litter around the northern Orkney Isles. We are working with local staff from Cooke Aquaculture to help store and remove the marine litter.
The project is already running and in September, 16 volunteers across Westray and Stronsay collected 460kg of marine litter.