Community Nurdle Clean: North + South

We’re heading back to the beaches, and this time we’re splitting into two groups.

Following the brilliant turnout for our first nurdle clean at Fish Quay, we’re heading back to the coast for another round.

This time, though, we’ll be in two places at once.

Steve will be back at Fish Quay Beach in North Shields, meeting in the same place as last time at the Low Lights car park.

And south of the river, Laura will be leading a second group at Littlehaven Beach in South Shields.

A huge amount of volunteer work has already taken place along the North East coastline following the recent spill of plastic nurdles into the sea. So far, much of that effort has understandably been concentrated on beaches north of the Tyne. There’s still plenty to do there, but the beaches further south need some hands too, which is why we’re expanding our little YxL effort this time around.

Choose your beach

North Shields - Fish Quay Beach with Steve
We’ll meet at the Low Lights car park, directly facing the beach, just as we did last time. Parking here is free.

South Shields - Littlehaven Beach with Laura
There isn’t free parking at Littlehaven, but the beach is only a short walk from South Shields Metro, so public transport is a good option if you can use it.

We’ll add two separate free Beach Clean sessions to the Yoga x Life schedule. Please make sure you book the location you intend to join so Steve and Laura have an idea of numbers and, importantly, we know who to contact if conditions mean anything needs to change.

A quick reminder: what are we actually looking for?

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used in the manufacture of plastic products. Following the recent spill, huge numbers have been washing up along our coastline.

They’re small, persistent and remarkably fiddly to remove from sand, seaweed and everything else the tide leaves behind. It’s slow work, but our first clean showed just how much can be achieved when enough people get involved.

You don’t need any previous experience. We’ll explain what to look for and how to collect them safely when we meet.

What to bring

Wear comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting dirty or damp, along with a coat and waterproof shoes or wellies.

If you have them, it’s also useful to bring:

• waterproof gardening or Marigold-style gloves

• a household dustpan and brush

• a household sieve or fishing net with less than 3mm mesh

• drinking water

• suncream, should the North East decide to surprise us

There are also equipment supplies available through the wider community effort, and the Nurdle Hub has up-to-date guidance on what you need and how to collect nurdles safely.

And after this one?

This will probably be our last organised YxL beach trip. As we head further into autumn, tides and weather become harder to predict far enough in advance for us to confidently put group dates into the studio calendar.

That definitely doesn’t mean the clean-up is finished. In fact, there is still an enormous amount to do.

The large-scale clean-up funded through the companies and insurers involved in the incident has already begun to scale back, despite nurdles continuing to be found along the coastline. The councils and agencies involved have said that recovery work is continuing and moving into a new phase, but as things stand there doesn’t yet appear to be a clear long-term programme that replaces the scale of the initial clean-up effort.

That makes the extraordinary community response that has grown around the spill increasingly important.

Supply units have now been set up at points along the coastline with the equipment you need to get involved, so you don’t need to wait for Yoga x Life, or anyone else, to organise a formal beach clean. The Nurdle Hub also has up-to-date advice on where help is most useful, how to collect safely and local WhatsApp groups where you can join people already heading out in your area.

So while we probably won’t put another YxL beach date in the calendar as the weather becomes harder to predict, we really hope this isn’t the end of our involvement. If you’ve enjoyed joining us, keep a sieve in the car, join your local group and tag along whenever conditions allow.

There’s still lots to be done, and lots of ways to chip in.

Find equipment locations, local WhatsApp groups, current clean-up information and guidance on where help is needed at the Nurdle Hub.

The Nurdle Hub →

Joining us this time

Choose either North Shields with Steve or South Shields with Laura and book the corresponding free Beach Clean session through the Yoga x Life schedule.

We’ll make our usual check of the tides and conditions before heading out and contact everyone booked if anything needs to change.

Then grab your sieve, wrap up appropriately and we’ll see how much more plastic we can get off the beaches before the sea has a chance to take it back.