Marine Life & Conservation
25th Great British Beach Clean has the opportunity to break records
Cleaning more beaches could tip the balance when it comes to stopping the plastic tide says Marine Conservation Society
There’s no silver bullet when it comes to the UK’s beach litter problem, but, says the charity behind this year’s 25th Great British Beach Clean, there’s an opportunity to become part of the solution. The Marine Conservation Society needs volunteers to take part in clean-ups nationwide, and is especially looking for individuals willing to lead a clean themselves over the weekend 14-17th September, with the charity’s support.
During last year’s Great British Beach Clean, just under 7,000 volunteers cleaned 339 beaches and picked up over 255,000 pieces of litter – a 10% rise in the amount of rubbish on UK beaches compared to 2016.
Now, 25 years after the first mass beach cleaning event, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) says the UK stands on the cusp of helping make its silver anniversary event the biggest ever.
Plastic pollution in our seas and the crisis the oceans face are no longer under the radar – industry, individuals and governments know that we have to act now to take the momentum started by MCS in 1994 when the charity began collecting beach litter data to fresh heights. The momentum has been taken to another level over the last 12 months by Blue Planet II, Sky Ocean Rescue and MCS’s own #STOPtheplastictide campaign.
“Cleaning 339 individual beaches last year was a fabulous achievement by our volunteers,” says Lizzie Prior, MCS Beach and River Clean Officer. “But we know that it’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of beaches around our coasts that have never been cleaned and surveyed – and it’s the collection of this data that is so important to getting even more positive changes implemented than have already been achieved in the last year or so.”
MCS volunteers have cleaned thousands of UK beaches over the last 24 years. From the Hebrides to Cornwall, Gwynedd to Kent, the charity has recorded just about every bit of rubbish its volunteers have picked up, and used that information to create a sea of change for our oceans. Reducing carrier bag numbers, a movement to stop plastic straws being handed out in their thousands, clearer labelling on wet wipes and proposed deposit return systems – all have been made to happen thanks to volunteer beach cleaners.
The single-use plastic carrier bag charge across all the home nations has resulted in a 28% drop in the number of bags found on UK beaches. Microbeads in personal care products have been banned in the UK and manufacturers and retailers have made wet wipe labelling clearer, and cut out their plastic content. High Street bars, and restaurants and smaller independents have banned plastic straws in their hundreds.There’s a growing momentum to see a tax on plastic ‘on the go’ items, like lids, stirrers and cutlery.
“The more beaches we have litter data for, the clearer the picture we will have of where it all comes from and what needs to be targeted next,” says Lizzie Prior. “We would love to see well over 500 beaches cleaned this year. If you live near a beach or have a favourite that you regularly visit, why not show it some love and organise a beach clean and survey. It’s really simple and the data you collect could result in further legislative change to help our oceans breathe plastic free.”
The 2018 Great British Beach Clean is the second one to be sponsored by Waitrose. In the last year the supermarket has introduced more easily recyclable sandwich packets, banned the sale of plastic straws in store from September and stopped giving them out in their cafés and are removing all single-use takeaway coffee cups by the autumn, saving up to 52 million cups annually potentially reaching our seas.
Less litter on UK beaches will save the lives of some of our best loved marine wildlife, protect our kids building sand castles and show the world what the great British seaside really looks like beneath its escalating mountain of rubbish.
Find a beach you want to clean – sign up and register it on the MCS online system – and they will provide you with all the help you need to get going at: www.mcsuk.org/
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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