Garden Route is littered with Nurdles, NVT needs your help to keep our beaches clean
Nature’s Valley Trust (NVT,) in partnership with Plett Tourism, is urging members of the public to collect nurdles washed away along Plett’s beaches. In fact, all beaches along the Garden Route!
Nurdles are small plastic pellets about the size of a lentil. Countless billion are used each year to make nearly all our plastic products, but many end up washing up on our shores. They are harmful to marine wildlife and are often mistaken for food by seabirds and fish. Local marine life research organisations like NVT, often find nurdles when researching animals that have died of ‘natural causes’.
Volunteers and members of the public are requested to PLEASE bag them and label the bags with a clear date and name of the beach found. These collected nurdle bags can be dropped off at either the Plett Tourism offices in Melville’s Corner (3rd floor), or at any of the NVT offices.
With Plett being a town heavily reliant on tourism, it’s important to keep our beaches clean and environmentally friendly, especially now that we are trying to recover from COVID19.
“With 6 Blue Flag Beaches, and a nomination with the World Travel Awards™ for the 11th year as Africa’s Leading Beach Destination, we need to stay focused and ensure our guests a pleasant experience while vising our town. Our natural resources, and in particular our coastline, will be even more important as the landscape of tourism along the Garden Route changes and evolves. Travellers are looking for outdoor experiences, fresh air and nature,” says Patty Butterworth, Acting CEO Plett Tourism.