106 volunteers, 505 kg of waste, one day: our Tarka Trail & Estuary Clean Up

Last week, 106 volunteers from businesses and organisations across North Devon rolled up their sleeves for our annual Tarka Trail & Estuary Clean Up. Taking part as part of World Cleanup Day, they collected 505 kg of waste in a single day.

Teams from local businesses, councils and schools laced up their boots and worked their way along the trail and estuary between Chivenor and Weare Giffard.

What we found

The numbers speak for themselves. One team alone, 11 volunteers from RMB Chivenor, pulled 423 plastic bottles from just one small stretch of the estuary.

Elsewhere, the haul included the everyday bottles and wrappers we always find, along with a few more surprising items including two car seats, an inflatable mattress and two traffic cones.

More than a clean-up

The event is part of a wider push to highlight the growing impacts of plastic pollution, with global production set to almost triple by 2060, and to spark conversations around consumer habits, waste management, and the fossil fuel industry's role in plastic production.

Plastics are now turning up in our food, our water, even our bodies, an easy thing to feel powerless about. Days like this are proof that local, collective action is anything but powerless. All data collected on the day goes towards lobbying efforts by World Cleanup Day and Surfers Against Sewage.

Clearing waste from the estuary matters, but it's only part of the story. Days like this bring staff teams, councillors and local firms face to face with the problem. They see it first-hand, and they decide together that this stretch of North Devon is worth protecting.

Thank you

A huge thank you to every business and organisation that turned up this year, and to everyone who supported the day by lending kit and sharing the event. We couldn't do it without you. 🤍

What’s next: join us for the Day of Action

Want to get involved? Our next big event is our big Day of Action, taking place all across North Devon on Saturday 30th January 2027. Everyone is welcome, whether you're joining as an individual, a family, a business or a community group. We'd love to see you there. Sign up our newsletter to receive details.