Every year, thousands of people take part in the week-long Great British Beach Clean. This year, the event is taking place across the UK from Friday 16th to Sunday 25th September.
There is an increasing need to protect our coastal areas and oceans from pollution and litter debris, with plastic being the biggest culprit. The Great British Beach Clean is a practical opportunity to get involved, help keep our beaches tidy and support conservation work, which also feeds into the International Coastal Clean-up.
The Marine Conservation Society asks for people taking part to complete a litter survey: recording all the items of rubbish they find within a 100-metre stretch. The data collected is vital to their campaign work to reduce the damage that plastic is doing to our coasts and oceans.
Last year, 385 litter items were found per 100 metres of beach surveyed during the Great British Beach Clean. Unsurprisingly, PPE and single use face masks were also found at 30% of UK beach clean events.
However, there are signs emerging that environmental campaigns are beginning to have a positive impact- since the minimum charge for plastic carrier bags was introduced, the Marine Conservation Society has seen a 55% drop in the number of plastic bags found on UK beaches.
This year, hundreds of beach clean-up events are due to take place around the UK. Please note, that some of these events may no longer be running as planned during the national period of mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For more information, updates on events and to find your nearest beach clean, visit the Marine Conservation Society website.
At VONNE, we are proud to be the founding member and host of the North East England Climate Coalition (NEECCo) and, in 2021, we also launched the Going Green Together project through our VONNE Climate Action Alliance (VCAA). The mission of the VCAA is to support the communities of the North East of England to confront the climate crisis using lessons drawn from our past, the strengths of our community in the present and the hard science that must inform our future, to guide and empower our actions.
To find out more about our Going Green Together initiative, and to join our network, visit Going Green Together.
To learn more about our net zero mission and the region’s climate action, visit NEECCo.