Teenagers rarely opt to do the cleaning over the weekend but last Saturday saw dozens of students grab gloves, bags and gardening forks as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day.
The students, who came from local secondary schools and the English Schools Foundation (ESF), collected more than 20 bags of garbage in just under two hours on the beach at Waterfall Bay near Aberdeen.
The rubbish included soft drink cans, bottles, cigarette butts, polystyrene, and, more worryingly, a syringe.
'We warn everyone not to touch any sharp objects or chemicals,' said Graham Young, an ESF project manager who runs activities for local and ESF children.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department helped organise last week's operation by sending trained staff with safety equipment for the volunteers, he said.
Part of the activity asked students to record what they had found for the Ocean Conservancy Database, an international group that monitors beach waste globally.
Mr Young said it was the students' decision to take part in the global coast clean-up. 'They thought it was better to do something like this than sit around talking,' he said.