Sustainable Beach Days in Devon
School’s out for summer, and we all know what that means—endless beach days in Devon! Whether you’re with the kids building sandcastles, exploring rock pools, or bodyboarding the waves, the beach offers limitless fun. But this summer we want can make our beach outings more sustainable by borrowing, not buying.
Have you heard of beach toy libraries? These brilliant resources provide families with beach toys as part of a ‘circular economy,’ reducing waste and promoting reuse. Instead of buying new buckets, spades, and polystyrene bodyboards that often end up abandoned on our beaches or collecting dust at home, families can borrow these toys for their holiday and return them for others to enjoy.
The aim of beach toy libraries is to prevent single-use items from cluttering our beautiful coastlines and landfills. By borrowing beach toys, you’re not only saving money but also helping the environment and contributing to a community effort to keep our beaches clean and sustainable.
We can’t discuss beach libraries without mentioning Plastic Free North Devon, who have created the ‘Protect Our Playground’ initiative which aims to reduce plastic pollution on our beaches by reducing the demand for plastic beach toys. They have set up Toy Libraries in Croyde, Hele Bay, Northam Burrows, Woolacombe, Ilfracombe, Combe Martin and Saunton Beach. They have now got 7 Toy Libraries at Saunton Beach alone!
North Devon isn’t the only area blessed with Toy Libraries. Sidmouth now have two, Exmouth’s Sideshore have one, Teignmouth’s beach toy library is open from May to September and Dawlish Warren and Holcombe beach also have beach toy libraries.
By using these, you’re ensuring that fewer toys end up as waste and more families can enjoy them. It’s a win-win for the environment and your summer holiday budget.
For more information on beach toy libraries or libraries of things you can find a list here on Recycle Devon.
So, as you pack your sunscreen and picnic for a day of seaside fun, remember to borrow your beach toys. Please share this for with those who aren’t local and are here to visit too. Let’s encourage mindful tourism – borrow don’t buy, say no to single use, buy local, support sustainable businesses and embrace nature.
Happy Holidays!
