One of the biggest issues is plastic pollution. Wildlife can eat plastic or become tangled up in it, plastic rubbish can smother habitats on the seafloor where fish spawn and we know that zooplankton eat plastic (
watch this video proof), meaning that we are eating the plastic which has worked its way up the food chain right up to fish on our plates.
What's the solution? It can’t be said enough: reduce, reuse and recycle but there is something else we can do – clean the beach. Our solution is: Beachwatch.
Beachwatch: (not) a rubbish solution!
Beachwatch is the Marine Conservation Society’s UK-wide beach clean and litter survey programme and the Great British Beach Clean is the flagship event. This Citizen Science project has been running for over 22 years and we have used the beach litter data collected by our volunteers to shape campaigns and influence policy.
The Great British Beach Clean 2016
Last September our volunteers cleared up 286, 384 individual pieces of rubbish around the UK in a single long weekend. Looking at all the rubbish found, we built up a picture of what is happening around the UK –
the full report is here.
We found that UK litter levels have dropped by 4% since 2015. This is great news but delve a little deeper and the situation looks less comforting. For example, we found 204.4 pieces of plastic/polystyrene for every 100m of coastline around the UK. Imagine walking along the beach and pacing out 100 steps and finding over 200 pieces of plastic within that area. This is the picture around our coast – more needs to be done!
Beachwatch data: a success story!
A commonly found item on our beaches is plastic bags. We cleaned, we collected and recorded and our data provided the evidence which helped bring in the 5p plastic bag charge.
Since 2011, when the first plastic bag levy came into force in Wales (soon followed by a levy in Northern Ireland (2012); Scotland (2014); and England (2015)) we have seen a 22% drop in the number of bags found on beaches – a measurable success. We are winning this battle against pollution in our seas! This is good news for marine life – whales and turtles mistake plastic bags for their favourite food – jellyfish! Sadly, the plastic becomes impacted in the animal's stomach and, unable to eat, they will starve. This problem is happening now – this is why data collection is vital – so we can actually change legislation and speed up behaviour change.
Wait a litter picking minute!
We can take heart from our plastic bag success – it's proof that our approach works but more needs to be done and we need your help! Beachwatch exists only because of our incredible volunteers and, right at this minute, rubbish is accumulating on our coastlines with every lapping tide, with every gust of wind more rubbish finds its way onto the coast, waiting for us to grab it with our litter pickers.
How can you help? Join us for The Great British Beach Clean 2017