Deloitte consultants lead Guernsey beach clean
Volunteers from Deloitte’s Guernsey office have offered their time to help promote the reduction of plastic pollution on the UK dependency. Members of the firm were joined by charity partners in a competition to see who could collect the most rubbish from Guernsey’s beach.
Mismanaged plastic waste that is discarded rather than being recycled, incinerated or stored in landfills, drains down rivers and waste water systems, before ultimately meeting its fate at the sea. This is a huge problem for coastal and island communities in particular, with land-origin plastic costing the global economy up to $19 billion every year.
With an estimated population of 67,334, the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a self-governing British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. Comprising several of the Channel Islands, Guernsey has a total land area of 78 square kilometres, and combined coastlines of roughly 50 kilometres.
Situated between two of the world’s largest economies, Guernsey is disproportionately impacted by land-origin pollution. One study found that nearly 40,000 pieces of litter were found on Guernsey's beaches over a year, with the Clean Earth Trust (CET) hoping findings from its 2022 marine litter report would bolster its campaign to ban single-use plastics. In the meantime, though, dedicated volunteers are needed to help protect the local environment.
To that end, Deloitte’s Guernsey office has hosted a collaborative beach clean. Situated at Salarie Corner, situated on Guernsey’s largest island, Deloitte Guernsey was joined by volunteers from GROW, its Five Million Futures (5MF) charity, and Guernsey’s local charity, and the CET – who supported the clean with equipment and logistics.
After a number of similarly successful events with several of Deloitte UK’s offices, the event partnered with Deloitte’s global sustainability charity partners, the Whale & Dolphin Conservation (WDC) – which works globally to create healthy seas and fight for the survival of whales and dolphins – to introduce a competitive element to the beach clean. The litter picking team split into two groups, Team Whale and Team Dolphin, who competed to collect the most rubbish.
Jo Huxtable, a tax partner at Deloitte Guernsey, commented, “Every little action counts. 95% of the litter in our oceans flows from the city through rivers, drains and waterways into the sea. On reaching the sea, this waste doesn’t disappear. It disintegrates into smaller pieces of toxic plastic which are often eaten by marine species, including whales and dolphins. The team and I are very proud of the work we are doing with WDC. With Salarie Corner being so close to the office, it is truly an opportunity for us to make a visible difference to the Guernsey area and in a small way, help to reduce the flow of toxic plastic into the sea.”
Deloitte’s efforts with a local beach clean will promote the importance of looking after our natural environment by preserving local wildlife and reducing plastic pollution. As part of this, following the beach clean, volunteers also heard from the CET about the work they do, focusing on their ‘Adopt a Patch’ project, an initiative which encourages people to take responsibility for a local area by regularly removing litter to keep Guernsey clean.
Over the years, Deloitte has backed a number of other global initiatives to protect oceans, and marine wildlife. Alongside Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte were leading consultancies among a list of more than 30 businesses and universities to have partnered with the world’s largest ocean cleaning mission – with Ocean Cleanup working on a huge system aimed at eliminating the infamous ‘vortex’ of refuse which has grown in the Pacific ocean in recent years.