News
Be part of the biggest ever UK-wide beach litter pick!
The UK’s leading marine charity, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), is looking for volunteers to get on board with the UK’s biggest beach clean event.
There’s no doubt that being by the sea makes us feel better, and the Great British Beach Clean (15th- 18th September) isn’t just a good day out for people who love the coast – it’s great for wildlife and the beach too!
The Great British Beach Clean is the only UK-wide beach clean event that not only spruces up hundreds of beaches around the coast but records litter finds too.
In 2016, 268,384 individual pieces of litter were picked up by just under 6,000 volunteers who cleaned up over 360 beaches.
Beach cleans take place from Cornwall to Cumbria, Denbighshire to Devon, Hampshire to the Highlands and all places in between. It incorporates the Great Channel Islands Beach Clean and the Great Northern Irish Beach clean.
This year, the Great British Beach Clean in England is being sponsored by Waitrose who are supporting MCS’ year round beach clean programme. Between now and next June, MCS aims to organise 1,000 beach and river clean ups across England alone for people to participate in.
Beach litter has steadily risen over the 23 years since MCS began recording it. However, there was some good news last year because the number of single-use plastic bags found on UK beaches almost halved between 2015 and 2016. MCS says this was almost certainly due to the charges at the checkout and shows the impact that behaviour change can have on beach litter.
In 2016 tiny bits of plastic and polystyrene were the most frequently found litter items on UK beaches. But although fewer plastic bags were found, there was a shocking 50% rise in the amount of balloon related litter compared to the previous year and volunteer pickers found more drinks container caps and lids too – up 4% on 2015.
“Taking part in the Great British Beach Clean really can make a difference. In previous years when we’ve highlighted increases in dog poo bags and sewage related debris found on beaches we’ve seen drops in numbers subsequently. It’s because of the massive increase in wet wipes we found between 2013 and 2015 that we were able to launch our ‘Wet Wipes Turn Nasty When You Flush Them’ Campaign which has resulted in improvements in labelling, removal of plastic from ‘flushable’ wet wipes in retailers own brands, and shown high street heavyweights the need for their flushable wipes to pass water industry standard,” says Lizzie Prior, MCS Beach and River Clean Project Officer. “Plastic drinks bottles have consistently been in the Top 10 of items found on UK beaches and that’s why we’re pushing for deposit return schemes in all parts of the UK.”
Cleaning and surveying a beach only takes a couple of hours at most. Each beach has a coordinator, who explains how to fill in a simple data form, and then it’s just a case of grabbing a litter picker and a bin bag and filling it up with rubbish!
“Beach litter is a serious environmental problem,” says Lizzie Prior. “But the solution is in our hands. We want the ‘Great British Beach Clean’ weekend to offer a snapshot of what the future could look like for the British seaside by reducing the amount of litter that reaches our shores – so the more volunteers we have, the clearer that picture will be. Sign up to The Great British Beach Clean (part of the Waitrose Beach and River Clean-up) and be part of the biggest and most influential fight against marine litter in the UK.”
Sign up to a clean near you at www.mcsuk.org/waitrose or call 01989 566017.
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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