Accompanying her was artist Julia Barton who set up the Littoral Art project which investigates and highlights the problems that plastics cause for marine life, wildlife and the environment.
The art project creates ‘Litter Cubes’ made of rubbish collected on the beach and will tour Scotland as an art exhibition. Julia wants to involve schools and community spaces to help create the artwork.
Rachael and Julia picked up rubber gloves, fishing line and milk bottles from the beach, Rachael saying: “I was shocked to see for myself the amount of plastic waste being washed up on to our beaches. We were only collecting for a few minutes and collected a lot of plastic from different sources.
“I’m sure everyone was moved by the shocking pictures in Blue Planet II that showed the extent to which our marine life and our bird life is affected by plastics. But it is not only the environment that is blighted by waste. Litter stops us from wanting to take a walk on the beach or a swim in the sea, and this affects seaside towns and villages such as Eyemouth.”
Julia added: “By closely examining the plastic litter on our beaches we can understand the bigger plastic pollution issue we are faced with.
“I looking forward to working with local organisations, groups, schools and businesses in Eyemouth as part of the project over 2018/19.”