PLASTIC CAMPAIGN: Morecambe's granddad's plastic free mission

A man is campaigning for a plastic free Lancaster and Morecambe to help the environment and give his grandchildren a better future.

Chris Coates is regularly seen out and about picking litter off Morecambe beach.

The grandad-of-four has even set up various social media accounts calling for a ban on certain plastics in the district.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It doesn’t take a lot to pick something up and put it in the bin, you wouldn’t leave a can of coke in your front room, so why leave one on the prom?

“The prom is Morecambe’s front room.”

On his regular beach cleans Chris walks a stretch of the promenade from the Midland Hotel to the West End car park.

Recently, the 62-year-old collected nine bags of rubbish, which consisted of plastic bottles, crisp packets, cans, wet wipes, cotton ear buds and plastic bags.

He is often joined on his litter picks by his grandchildren, Bethany, nine and Josh, seven, who attend Skerton St Luke’s CofE Primary School.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I began beach cleans last year, I was walking along the prom and I noticed a load of tin cans as I was taking pictures and I thought I will have to edit them out,” said Chris, who lives in Morecambe.

“I was thinking I’ve got to do something about that.

“If you see a filthy beach with rubbish then people who visit will complain.

“I think that is what started me off, I didn’t have any bags with me at the time so I went into the information centre and they gave me a couple of black bin bags and off I went.”

Crisp packets are a common item which are placed in Chris’s black bin bags – and it’s not surprising when around ten million are produced everyday.

“We are all to blame in one way or another,” said Chris.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“You can be sitting in your car and open the door and a crisp packet can blow out in the wind, you can’t say you have never done it because we are all responsible.”

Chris would like to see more advertising on the prom to encourage people not to drop litter – including extra bins at the entrances and exits and signs relating to what type of litter is harmful to birds and marine life. Chris said: “If you are walking along pick up a few bits of plastic and rubbish and you will feel good.”