In one year, people can achieve a lot. Someone finally achieves a rise in their career, someone gives birth to a long-awaited child. And someone comes to the desired physical shape.
But hardly anyone around the world in one year did the same as the 70-year-old eco-activist Pat Smith. She managed to clean as many as 52 beaches in her native Cornwall, as well as Devon, from rubbish blockages.
This elderly woman spent the whole year on the famous beaches of Cornwall and Devon. She was armed with a pile of garbage bags and several packs of rubber gloves, as well as a special stick with a sharp end to prick garbage.
In addition to working independently, the woman is the founder of the environmental campaign Final Straw Cornwall.
“Most of the garbage I have collected consists of everyday household waste. These are the remnants of those things that we all use every day. And it shocks me that people pollute our beautiful beaches with them.”
“I strive to protect our living planet for my children and grandchildren. And I will continue to do everything in my power to make it happen!” Pat Smith said.
“We all must take responsibility for collecting garbage,” the activist constantly insists, “but it will be enough that none of us will leave it outside special bins and containers.”
Laughing, the woman said that everyone who spends money on fitness classes should join her cause. It’s free, good for the environment and very conducive to keeping fit.
“I barely used a special stick, constantly bending over and picking up every piece of debris with my hands,” says Pat.
Among the most bizarre finds among the beach trash, Pat mentions a man’s cap, an earring, crosses for laying tiles, electrical cables and a dog carrier.
“And how do people manage to leave all this in the water or on the beach?” Pat Smith is indignant.
