George’s action call after huge rubbish lift in Strangford Lough

George’s action call after huge rubbish lift in Strangford Lough

26 July 2023

A PORTAFERRY man has expressed his alarm at seeing lines of rubbish scattered upon the shores of Strangford Lough.

Compelled to take action, George Toma, 51, collected an incredible 32 bags of rubbish.

He said: “We are going to suffer. It’s going to be an ugly coastline, we cannot take the kids to the coastline, and marine life will suffer from the plastics.

“There needs to be quick action; it’s not something that’s coming in a few months or a few years, it’s right there, and you can see it. If we don’t pick it up and collect it, more and more is going to come. It’s very sad to see. Animals will have plastics around them because of our actions. We throw away everything.”

In a solo mission lasting a few days, George spent one hour each day to collect the rubbish. In a video made to spread awareness, he placed the bags to spell the word ‘help’.

“The help is not to get people to help me,” he explained, “it’s for Strangford Lough. I want to make an impact. We need to do something before it’s too late.

“It is our actions. We did something wrong by throwing plastic away months ago, years ago, everyone’s doing it. I walk there all the time, I want to make people aware. It’s a lot of plastics and the water brings out things that don’t belong to her. It belongs to us, and nobody goes back to pick up anything.”

George is calling on Ards and North Down Council to take action with a strict programme of cleaning the shore and coastline.

“We pay the council to do the job and they don’t do it. There’s a car park and the bin is full. The birds then go into the bins and pick up foods and plastics.”

He added: “This is big, anyone can walk and see it with their own eyes. You don’t have to think about it. We can’t ignore it any more. I want to send a message that the things we leave behind can destroy the planet and the place we’re living in.”