Perhaps the weirdest item found was a message in a bottle . Released about 30 years ago it was discovered by a canoe club , in Scotland , during the Big Paddle Cleanup .
A member of Pentland Canoe Club , in Thurso , Scotland , found the object while the group collected a tonne of waste from hard-to-reach beaches .
The message , found by David Shand , was inside a small plastic bottle picked up on the shore near Occumster .
The note on fragile , orange paper , which has faded to white , was written , as a child , by a woman named Lynn , from Rothes , who has since been traced after some brilliant detective work .
The bottle with Lynn ’ s message travelled out to the Moray Firth before ending its 100km journey in Caithness .
“ I ’ m 34 and I reckon I was 8 or 9 when I did it so that ’ s probably about 25 years ago ” - Lynn Rothes
The bottle travelled for miles and stayed completely intact after 25 years , which shows the robustness of the material and the danger it poses to the environment .
This year , we were also delighted that our athletes got involved too .
In summary , everyone connected with the Big Paddle Cleanup is delighted with how well it went . Chantelle Grundy , British Canoeing ’ s Access & Environment Lead , said :
“ It ’ s been fantastic to see the paddling community across the nation , coming together to take action to remove junk and plastic pollution . It will make a positive difference for nature and for people .
The Big Paddle Cleanup has highlighted the scale of the pollution issue our waters face It has also shown how each of us can make a positive difference , which is amplified as we unite in a common cause . I would like to thank all of our community who have given up their time to protect our special blue places .”
Support our next Big Paddle Cleanup by becoming a Go Green British Canoeing member .
When you Go Green with your membership , we allocate £ 2 of your membership fee towards projects just like the big paddle cleanup at no extra cost to you ! It ’ s a completely paperless membership option that supports the protection of the waterways we all love to paddle . Choose Go Green when you sign up for membership or when you next renew your membership .
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A special mention to Canoe sprint athlete Tom Lusty who led a team of 18 people in cleaning up the Grand Union Canal .
He was also interviewed by BBC Sport and explained how , in the past , he has fished out discarded bikes , plastic bags , shoes of all sizes and a pupy ! Thankfully , the puppy was absolutely fine .
For more information please visit : clearaccessclear waters . org . uk / bigpaddlecleanup
Canoe Focus Early Summer 2023