work outing when I worked for Barclays Global Investors some of the most kind hearted folk I have had the pleasure to work with had me Beach Cleaning at the Thames Estaury - delightfully the first thing I picked up was a tampon followed by Cotton buds galour and more glass than I have drunk out of. We ended up with 16kg in 2 hours rubbish off a beach we all thought was clean. My company gives us 3 days a year to do charity work like this so its a great incentive to get out and help great causes. Learnt a few things about the marine environment and how we can improve it with a few simple changes to life. We raised £1000 for the Marine Society on the day and have a dress down next Friday so no doubt there will be more. Avoid using plastic bags and ensure you dispose of them wisely - we saw an example of 8kg of plastic found in a whale Don't drop cigarette butts anywhere but a bin - they will end up in water ways. Don't flush cotton buds down the loo...