With single-use plastic found on 97% of UK beaches surveyed last year, one University of Brighton student is tackling marine litter one beach clean at a time.
Sammie Aplin, an NHS nurse and MSc Advanced Clinical Practice student, spends her spare time combing local beaches for discarded plastic, fishing gear and debris. She then transforms what she finds into colourful artworks that highlight the scale of coastal pollution.
Known online as The Plastic Coast, Sammie began collecting beach plastic during the pandemic. Early morning walks along Brighton seafront on her way to hospital shifts became both a creative outlet and a source of calm during one of the most challenging periods of her nursing career.
What started as a personal project has since grown into an internationally recognised practice. Her commissioned pieces have travelled as far as the United States and New Zealand, she has a waiting list of more than 35 people, and nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram.
From discarded flip flops and children’s toys to fishing gear washed ashore after winter storms, around 30% of what Sammie collects is transformed into artwork. Each commission incorporates personal details and meaningful objects connected to the client.
Originally from Devon, Sammie says the name The Plastic Coast reflects her connection to the Jurassic Coast, where she grew up by the sea before moving to Brighton more than a decade ago.
Sammie said: ‘What shocks people is how much of what I find hasn’t just been dropped yesterday – some of it has been in the environment for decades. I’ve found packaging from before decimalisation, plastic from the 1970s and objects that have clearly spent years being shaped by the sea. It really makes you realise this problem doesn’t just disappear.
‘As a nurse, my work is deeply rewarding, but it can also be challenging at times. Beach cleaning gives me the chance to switch off, reconnect with nature, and find a sense of balance.
‘What started as picking up a few colourful pieces on my walk to work during COVID turned into something much bigger. Now every piece I create tells two stories – the story of the person I’m making it for, and the story of where that plastic has been.’
Among her most memorable discoveries are pieces of pre-decimal packaging dating back to before Britain’s currency reform, a toy figure from a 1930s or 1940s model car set, and a Smarties lid from the 1970s – evidence, she says, of how long plastic pollution has persisted in the environment.
Sammie was recently awarded a People and Planet Prize START Grant from the university’s Student Enterprise team. The funding will help her develop the business side of her growing creative practice while continuing her environmental work.
Against a backdrop of growing concern over plastic pollution on Britain’s coastline, Sammie’s work offers a creative reminder that some of the waste washing ashore today may remain in the environment for generations.