Massive Orange Book

Sustainability
Sustainability

The Great British Beach Clean: 17th-26th Sept

Every September, thousands of people in the UK take to the beach all around the country to take part in the Great British Beach Clean. Sustainability is a big theme here at Massive Orange Book, and we want to bring you all the news on what’s going on, and how you can get involved in the incredible charity initiatives going on near you.

Brought to you by the Marine Conservation Society, fighting for a cleaner, better protected, healthier ocean, The Great British Beach Clean is a week-long citizen science event, where hundreds of beach cleans take place up and down the UK. Litter data collected drives the MCSUK’s conservation work and also feeds into the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC).

This year’s Great British Beach Clean will take place between Friday 17th – Sunday 26th September 2021.

During every beach clean, the MCSUK asks people to run a litter survey: recording all the items of rubbish they find in a 100m stretch. They then use this data to campaign for change. They have seen some great results in their campaigning to date, including; the plastic bag charge, banning microplastics in personal care products, better wet wipe labelling, and supporting a tax on single-use plastic items. But there is still so much to do to stop the litter plaguing our beaches.

Your efforts could help them make a huge difference, so get involved! Grab your mates, your family, or organise it as a team building event at work!

To get involved, simply find an event happening near you, or organise your own by registering on the website!

Marine pollution

  • Every year between 8 and 13 million tonnes of plastics enter our ocean.
  • Globally, some areas of our ocean now contain six times more microplastics than plankton.
  • 29 million metric tonnes of plastic is expected to enter the ocean every year by 2040.

The Marine Conservation Society’s work so far

  • There has been a 55% drop in plastic bags on UK beaches since the 5p charges (which they campaigned for) were introduced in 2011.
  • In 2019 businesses that used their Good Fish Guide to inform their sourcing supplied over 20% of the UK’s seafood. That’s around 760 million seafood meals!
  • When marine protected areas are fully protected biodiversity increases by an average of 21%.
  • Their volunteer divers spent 100 hours underwater in 2019/20 recording species and changes in habitats.
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