In April 2025, we returned to the stunning Coigach peninsula in the northwest Highlands for a few days of beach cleaning with North West Highland Beach cleans and the local community.
It was great to reconnect with familiar faces and meet new ones. We focused on two main areas at Bardentarbet and the end of a narrow loch, near Rieff beach.
These weren’t easy beaches to clean. Years of weather and tide had broken ropes, nets, and plastics into tiny strands and microplastic fragments. What looked like just stones and seaweed was often littered with confetti-sized pollution.
The area at the end of Loch of Rieff was unbelievably bad and the plastics there were so degraded, that in some areas it felt like we were scoping up confetti by the handful.
Over four days, we removed more than 1,100kg of rubbish, most of it small, tangled, and time-consuming to collect. Every bag filled felt like a real win.
We had everything from sunshine to wind and rain, classic Highland weather. Huge thanks to our amazing volunteers and Port a Bhaigh campsite for allowing the team to camp there for free.
A small group of us spent hours there, slowly filling bags. It was tough work, but every bit removed helps protect the wildlife and the beauty of the place.
If you’re visiting the area this summer, enjoy the views, and maybe take a minute to fill a bag of rubbish. If everyone did that, the impact would be massive.
- Facebook: Scottish Coastal Cleanup
- X (Twitter): @ScotCoastClean
- Instagram: @scottishcoastalcleanup