An almost suspicious order remains on the sand just passed by the vehicles. The bins full, the algae gone, the footprints erased, the shoreline as smooth as the floor of a newly opened establishment. Those who arrive with a towel under their arm see a finally “clean” beach. Many species, however, lose food, shelter, shade and a small natural barrier against erosion in just a few minutes. The collection of waste in nature arises from a right, almost automatic gesture. Seeing a plastic bottle disappear from a path or a can end up in a bag gives immediate satisfaction. The landscape seems to breathe better. Us too.
The problem begins when our idea of cleanliness takes control. In the woods, in the meadows, along the paths and on the coasts, many things that disturb the human gaze are part of the life of the place. Dead leaves, broken branches, beached algae, pieces of wood smoothed by the water, fallen fruit, plant remains. They look like disorder, they are often structure. They keep the soil moist, nourish insects and microorganisms, offer shelter to larvae, small animals and birds. Removing an abandoned bottle makes sense. Raking everything because “it’s bad” tells another story.
The clean that weighs
There is much more underfoot than the earth we see. There is a minute community, almost always invisible, made up of fungi, bacteria, insects, roots, seeds, larvae. Living soil works even when it seems still. Overly aggressive cleaning, especially with mechanical means or heavy raking, can compress the soil, disturb the surface layers and take away useful organic material. In parks and forests this applies to leaves and dead wood. On the beaches it applies to that line left by the sea, made of algae, shells, plant fragments and small natural debris, which in many places is eliminated at dawn before the arrival of bathers.
The scientific literature on the topic has long called for greater caution. A review published on Marine Pollution Bulletin analyzed the methods and impacts of beach cleaning, highlighting how seaside “decency” has often been treated more as a tourist need than as an ecological issue. Mechanical cleaning can affect the organisms that live in the shoreline and on the organic substance brought by the sea, while manual collection allows more selective interventions.
In Italy this discussion also concerns beached Posidonia oceanica, often mistaken for dirt. In many places it still ends up at the center of the usual seasonal controversies: tourists want free sand, the manager fears poisonous reviews, the Municipality tries to avoid complaints. Yet those plant deposits help retain sand, mitigate erosion and feed small coastal fauna. A living beach has smells, remains, crooked lines, materials deposited by the sea. It bears little resemblance to a postcard. It works much better.
Wildlife underfoot
Then there is the calendar. Many clean-up operations are organized in spring or summer, when the days are longer, the weather invites you to be outside and volunteering also becomes a way to build community. These are delicate months for fauna. Birds that nest on the ground, camouflaged eggs, small ones immobile in the grass, animals that use low vegetation as shelter. A large group, a repeated passage, an area beaten with too much energy is enough to create a disturbance.
The guidelines for conscious beach cleaning invite you to check sensitive areas first, avoid nesting areas in the most critical months, leave natural elements such as shells, feathers, cuttlefish bones and plants in place, and even carefully observe larger waste, because over time they may have become small micro-habitats. The marine storage belt is also important for many organisms and for the feeding of birds.
At that point the bag alone is of little use. You need to watch where you put your hands. A plastic bottle is taken away. A piece of glass is carefully removed. A fishing line, a net, a deflated balloon, a towel, a cigarette butt, a cap, a can deserve the sack. A rotten branch, a leaf, a mass of algae, a shell, a feather, a piece of wood worn by water can remain where they are. The border seems banal only from afar. On the field he asks for knowledge, calm, light hands.
The sack makes a scene
The collection of waste in nature remains necessary. The plastic numbers remind us of this without needing to raise the tone: according to UNEP, every year between 19 and 23 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in aquatic ecosystems, contaminating lakes, rivers and seas. In Europe there are some encouraging signs: the Joint Research Center of the European Commission has reported a decline in macro-waste on EU coasts between 2015-2016 and 2020-2021, with a reduction also in single-use plastic. However, values still remain high in many areas.
So yes, cleaning is necessary. It is especially useful when the waste is of human origin, persistent, dangerous, sharp, ingestible, capable of trapping animals or fragmenting into microplastics. It is even more useful when collection becomes monitoring: the objects found are counted, it is understood where they come from, that data is used to change management, bins, controls, bans, packaging, habits.
The risk is that cleaning becomes a kind of periodic absolution: someone makes a mess, someone passes by, the photo comes out well and the problem remains there. Those who abandon waste feel the weight of the gesture less, because they imagine a team ready to move on afterwards. Companies continue to produce disposable packaging. The administrations show full bags and smiles. The volunteers return home tired and satisfied. Meanwhile the source remains open.
A collection done well starts before the event. You look at the place, choose accessible areas, avoid sensitive periods, talk to those who know the area, explain to the participants which materials to take and which to leave. Hands, pliers, separate bags are used, be careful. Heavy vehicles are dispensed with where the soil is fragile or where the beach hosts vegetation, dunes, nests, microfauna. Less scene, more real rejection.
Nature does not need to be polished. It needs the plastic to come out of the lawns, the glass to disappear from the paths, the fishing lines to be removed from the shoreline. Leaves, algae, branches and dead wood can remain where they are, with their messy air that only bothers us. A beach that is too perfect is often just an impoverished beach. Beautiful to photograph. Poorer to live in.
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