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Hurst Spit beach clean by Amy Marsden
Why do beach cleans and litter surveys?
Beach litter is not only unsightly and it is also a danger to wildlife and human health. Floating litter is often ingested by marine wildlife or can lead to entanglement and eventually death.
Plastic is non-biodegradable and so causes a particular problem – plastic litter has increased by 135% since 1994 and accounts for 64% of all rubbish found on UK beaches.
Beach cleans and litter surveys are part of the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Beachwatch Project. It's a great way help keep this beautiful section of shore tidy, while collecting valuable data on litter for MCS. Combining a litter survey with the beach clean is essential in gathering important data on where the litter is coming from and how much of it there is.
What happens to all the data?
Survey information is passed to the MCS who use it to gather evidence of beach litter around our coasts. It’s used in their campaigns and in local, national and international lobbying to prevent litter reaching our beaches.
The Marine Conservation Society produce a great annual report each year which includes lots of interesting information about the litter collected across the country. Annual reports are available from their Great British Beach Clean website.
When do we do our beach clean and litter survey?
We hope to be running a beach clean in September 2018 as part of the Marine Conservation Society Great British beach Clean.