Thousands of laughing gas canisters and ‘hippy crack’ balloons are piled up in bags after being cleared from beach following Brighton Pride festival
- About 400,000 thousand revellers flocked to Brighton for Pride, which was headlined by Kylie Minogue
- Clean-up volunteers had to tackle 100 tonnes of rubbish that had been left behind once the festival was over
- Campaigners say it was Britain’s biggest ever beach clean as they feared the rubbish washing into the sea
By Sebastian Murphy-bates For Mailonline
Published: 08:15 EDT, 5 August 2019 | Updated: 10:33 EDT, 5 August 2019
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The impact of so-called ‘hippy crack’ on the environment was laid bare after Pride revellers discarded thousands of laughing gas canisters and balloons on Brighton beach.
Around 400,000 people flocked to the city for the UK’s biggest Pride festival which was headlined by Kylie Minogue.
But revellers also discarded around 100 tonnes of rubbish which often ends up on the beach and gets washed into the sea.
These are some of the balloons and canisters that volunteers hauled in during a huge clean-up of Brighton beach after the town hosted hundreds of thousands of guests for its Pride festival. The drug is the second most commonly used in England and Wales, but volunteers are warning those who take it to resist the temptation of ditching materials on the coast
Two volunteers are pictured taking part in the huge clean-up of Brighton beach after the Pride festival was attended by hundreds of thousands of revellers. The environmentalists say that laughing gas use ended in attendees ditching balloons and canisters on the beach, sparking fears that the plastic and metal could be washed out to sea when the tide comes in and out. To combat any potential damage to marine life, campaigners organised a clean-up
The litter-picking team are picking with the bulging bags of rubbish they recovered from the beach as they attempted to prevent further environmental damage. The Pride festival brought about 400,000 people to the seaside town, some of whom discarded empty lager cans as well as laughing gas canisters and balloons across the beach
As a result up to 1,000 environmental campaigners and volunteers took part in Britain’s biggest ever beach clean. And they were stunned by the amount of nitrous oxide or ‘hippy crack’ canisters they collected.
Scattered on the pebble beach were thousands of the small canisters and the balloons used to inhale the gas. Nitrous oxide has become a craze at festivals and concerts where a canister and balloon can be bought for as little as £2.
Users take it for the euphoric, pain-numbing ‘high’ it creates and the sense of wellbeing. However activist Clare Osborn, of Clare Talks Rubbish, said the craze was having a disastrous effect on the environment.
She said: ‘We sound like the fun police, but people really need to find more sustainable ways to have fun. Every one of these canisters comes with a balloon, and they are so incredibly dangerous and deadly to wildlife, which can mistake the bits of balloon for food.’
After cannabis, nitrous oxide or ‘hippie crack’ is the second most commonly used recreational drug in England and Wales after cannabis.
It was made illegal to use nitrous oxide for its psychoactive effect in 2016 but enforcing the legislation is difficult because the gas is used in food products like whipped cream.
Campaigners organised a clean-up on Brighton beach, where they waded through the waste left behind after the Pride festival. Laughing gas – sometimes called hippy crack – was a popular drug at the festival and environmentalists were dismayed to find canisters and balloons used to inhale it strewn across the pebbles. They decided to act to stop plastic drifting out into the ocean and causing further damage
Volunteers cleared about 100 tonnes of waste from the beach in Brighton after hundreds of thousands of people descended on the seaside town for Pride, headlined by Kylie Minogue, and campaigners were dismayed to find 100 tonnes of rubbish left in the wake of the festival
Pictured: Volunteers on Brighton beach, where they collected 100 tonnes of rubbish after about 400,000 people descended on the seaside town for Pride this year. Campaigners have urged guests who attend in future to fine more sustainable ways of having fun than huffing laughing gas from plastic balloons, which can end up being washed out into the sea if discarded carelessly on the beach
It has become a craze at festivals and concerts and a canister and balloon to inhale it can be bought for as little as £2.
However the Royal College of Nursing said many people remained ignorant of the risks, which can include breathing difficulties, dangerously-increased heart rate, burns, and death.
In March 2015, a 22-year-old University of Brighton student, Aaron Dunford, was found dead with about 200 spent canisters in his room.
An inquest found his death was caused by asphyxiation as a result of the chronic use of nitrous oxide gas. Ocean’s 8 – an all-female team of green campaigners – organised the huge clean-up on Sunday.
Amy Gibson, another member of Ocean’s 8 who organises regular Pier 2 Pier silent disco beach clean, said she has never seen so much rubbish on the beach.
Volunteers took part in their beach clean collecting tonnes of recyclable plastic waste, drinks cans and bottles and disposable barbecues in hundreds of bin bags.
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