We run FREE Nurdle Hunts every couple of months at Charmouth. If you want to reduce the amount of plastic in our seas and help wildlife, come along!
All nurdles collected will be washed and added to our Nurdle Tube on display here in the Centre!
See a list of current marine events
What are nurdles?
Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used to make most of our plastic products. Unfortunately, spillages and mishandling by industry mean that nurdles easily escape and get washed into the sea. It is estimated that 53 billion nurdles escape into the UK environment each year!
Why is this bad?
Due to their tiny size, nurdles are mistaken as prey and eaten by marine wildlife and they move up the food chain. Unfortunately nurdles also act as sponges in the sea, attracting pollutants. This means nurdles become packed with toxins, and become even more harmful to wildlife. One further problem is that nurdles do not break down over time. They simply break into smaller and smaller pieces. This means nurdles are becoming more and more widespread in our oceans.
What are biobeads?
We also find a lot of biobeads by the river at Charmouth. Biobeads are tiny plastic pellets used at some wastewater treatment plants as part of the filtration process. Their small size means they can escape into the environment. Biobeads have a more wrinkled surface, and tend to have more irregular shapes compared to nurdles. We want to pick these up too as they have a similar harmful affect on wildlife.
What can you do to help?
Pick up nurdles and biobeads! The more we collect, the fewer end up in the sea.
Always make sure you wear gloves when handling nurdles and biobeads as they contain toxins!
If you want to find out more visit the Great Nurdle Hunt website: https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/