Grab your bin bag and get ready – it’s time for another Great British Beach Clean! This year it’s running from September 20th to 23rd. Read our blog from last year to find out more or pop on over to the Marine Conservation Society’s website now to register!
A walk on the beach. Ingredients: sand, sea, wind, and… rubbish.
We’ve all been there, wandering along a beach admiring all the beautiful seashells when something interesting pops up in the path in front. A shiny stone, a crafty crab, a coca-cola can? Our beaches are littered with rubbish, and like an iceberg, most of it is hidden under the surface. It’s hard to feel like you can make a difference alone, even if you pick up 1… 2… 10 pieces of rubbish during your trip. There’s still more.
And, you’re right to worry about beach litter. It makes its way to our beaches in a number of ways, for example, it’s left behind by visitors, carried by currents, transported by the wind; there’s a never-ending stream. And, if not handled appropriately, it injures wildlife, dogs, and people and is consumed by animals – the microscopic pieces even end up in our food chain!
Marine Conservation Society and volunteers to the rescue!
Luckily, you are not alone with the desire to walk on a rubbish-free beach. It was 25 years ago that the Marine Conservation Society asked the public to help clean up the coasts of Britain in the first Great British Beach Clean and it’s been running every year since. The last national event was between the 14th and 17th of September in 2018.
Record numbers, good and bad in 2018
In September 2018 a record number of people, almost 15,000, spent their weekend cleaning 494 beaches and collecting 8550 kg of litter; the same weight as two African elephants! This amount of rubbish is somewhat less than a year before, but the goal is to have none.
Take part in 2019 Great British Beach Clean!
Join the next Great British Beach Clean in September (20th-23rd) 2019! With this event, you can fight plastic pollution, contribute to a national and global survey and meet likeminded people. All you need to do is head on over to the MCS website, find your local beach clean and register to attend.
Let’s make the Great British Beach Clean unnecessary!
Joining in the Great British Beach Clean is a fabulous start to cleaning up our beaches but don’t forget, you don’t have to wait! You can organise or join beach cleans any time of the year all around the coast of Britain – see more details and locations on the Marine Conservation Society’s website.
But, at the end of the day, picking up litter alone will not solve our rubbish crisis, we need to do more – we need to reduce our waste. Remember, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
The more we reuse what we have, the less waste we’ll produce. Check out our Animalkind page to make a start, Top 10 ways to reduce your plastic waste.
Blog by OneKind Planet writer, Zora Tamas