The
Great British Beach Clean is a nationwide coastal clean up event hosted by the Marine Conservation Society, and this year it is taking place between Friday 16th - Sunday 25th September. Dates of local events may vary, so read on to find out how you can get involved in a clean up near you.
Of course, part of what this 10 day long event entails is given away in the title, it is a chance to get people on the beaches and clean up all the litter that has been left or that has washed up on the shore. The Great British Beach Clean is also so much more than that, as on every clean up they ask people to take a litter survey that records all the items of rubbish that they find in a 100m stretch. All this data gathered from beaches up and down the country helps the Marine Conservation Society campaign for changes that will make a real difference to our oceans.
For example, data gathered from previous beach cleans helped to introduce the plastic bag charge in shops and supermarkets. This has resulted in a 55% drop in plastic bags found on UK beaches following the introduction of the 5p charge. There’s still plenty to be done though, as last year saw an average of 385 items of litter in each 100 metre section of British beach.
Officially registered Beach Clean events are all on the
Marine Conservation Society website. All you need to do is enter your postcode and how far you are willing to travel, and the site will show you any nearby beaches that have clean ups scheduled.
If you don’t happen to live anywhere near a beach then don’t worry, you can still get involved by cleaning up your streets or parks. Take a look at the
Source to Sea Litter Quest page to see how you can organise your own local litter pick.
If you plan on getting involved this year, please leave us a comment below so that we can give you a big THANK YOU from us for helping to keep our planet clean!
