The state of Troon Beach was brought into sharp focus during a recent clean-up attempt by Optical Express volunteers.
Vision specialists Optical Express marked World Ocean Day by helping to clean up Troon Beach, as part of a joint effort alongside the Marine Conservation Society – a UK charity fighting for a cleaner, better-protected, healthier ocean.
Volunteers from Glasgow-based Optical Express and representatives of the Marine Conservation Society gathered at Troon South Beach over the weekend (June 10 and 11).
The litter they collected included microplastics, rubber, metal and glass, which can all be damaging to the ocean and marine life.
World Ocean Day – celebrated on June 8 – brings together volunteers and representatives of organisations from all sectors across the world, who are focused on protecting and restoring the oceans and creating a stable climate.
Optical Express founder and CEO, David Moulsdale, said: “We were delighted to take part in the beach clean-up at Troon.
"Being a local business, we see the effects first-hand of what impact waste can have on our oceans here in Scotland.
"The environmental impact of the eye care industry is often overlooked, but Optical Express is leading the decarbonisation of the industry and aims to make it fully sustainable.
"The economic and health benefits of vision correction surgery are already obvious, but patients should also be aware of how their eye care solutions impact the environment.
"At Optical Express, we are committed to educating and helping people make more sustainable choices in eye care and in turn protecting our natural spaces.”
Katie Macfarlane, youth engagement officer in the learning and community education team, Marine Conservation Society said: “It was a pleasure to take part in the beach clean-up with Optical Express, all the volunteers were very engaged and keen to understand more about the impacts of waste on the ocean and its marine life.
"It was a very busy, sunny day on the beach, but the perfect opportunity to think about our own actions when visiting natural spaces, as well as the bigger picture of consumer waste and how it impacts our environment.
"It is important to bring awareness to the dangers of single-use plastic, how we can behave more sustainably as individuals and organisations, and what actions we can take to create positive change.”
For more than 30 years Optical Express have supported hundreds of humanitarian and philanthropic projects, donating over £33 million and counting to worthwhile causes in the UK and abroad.
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