Valentine’s Day stunt on Sydney’s Manly Beach slammed by northern beaches locals
A Valentine’s Day stunt on a world-famous beach has left furious residents dealing with the environmental impact of the romantic gesture.
A special Valentine’s Day proposal was set up at the North Steyne end of Sydney’s Manly Beach on Wednesday, with hundreds of white plastic ‘petals’ scattered along the beach.
But not everyone was happy with the gesture, with angry locals in particular having to clean up the discarded fake flower petals, plastic leaves, candles and plastic packaging material that was then dumped on the beach.
In photos posted to Facebook, one photo showed two women setting up a giant white petal heart, complete with red carpet and red roses.
A Valentine’s Day proposal has outraged locals after plastic flower petals, candles and plastic packaging were strewn across the beach
The collection of debris left behind by the Valentine’s Day proposal included plastic leaves
Aftermath photos showed debris strewn across the beach.
“Candles were placed in the sand, so it appears the celebration took place there on the beach as well as up near the sidewalk,” the local wrote.
‘Plastic petals are cheaper than real petals, but the person you are doing this for would prefer fewer real petals than hundreds or thousands of fake petals.’
The resident said they knew the petals were plastic after lighting one and black smoke appeared.
Locals said no one had bothered to clean up the mess, and that hundreds of petals would ‘suffocate wildlife’ for hundreds of years.
They think the discarded plastic items would be consumed by fish, turtles and birds, which would mistake the petals for food.
Angry locals said the mess looked deliberate.
‘I believe that it doesn’t occur to some people to take the impact into account when making these types of decisions.
‘Think about your long-term impact, make choices accordingly and feel better about it.’
The plastic petals can remain in the environment for hundreds of years and kill large amounts of wildlife, including turtles
Nicholas Mallos, vice president of the Ocean Conservancy’s plastics program, worried that the items left behind would likely kill wildlife.
“These photos are quite shocking to see, especially when you know that these items were deliberately left in the mess,” he said Yahoo News Australia.
‘In sufficient quantities, ingesting this type of plastic can be absolutely harmful to birds and marine life.’
Mr Mallos added that flexible plastic is deadly to wildlife and he believes the polyester petals will be too.
Just a few small pieces of plastic can cause a young sea turtle to die.
Locals who posted the photos on Facebook were shocked by the amount of items thrown away and the lack of care for the environment and surrounding ecosystem.
The vice president said that when animals digest plastic, it can block their digestive systems, leading to starvation.
Another problem is that plastics can also contain chemicals that can alter the feeding and reproductive behavior of wildlife.
AMCS Plastics & Packaging program manager Tara Jones said Yahoo she believes there are safer products to use.
She explained that when plastic is lightweight, it can be easily carried by wind and water, increasing the chance of it being ingested by wildlife.
“Nearly every species group in the ocean has encountered plastic, and the vast majority of these interactions are negative,” she said.