From Beachwatch to Don't Let Go

Balloon litter found on a beach clean

Sea Champion Andy has been organising beach cleans for MCS for a number of years now and he was becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of balloon litter he was finding so he decided to do something about it.

"I got involved in the Don’t Let Go campaign through my initial work as a Beachwatch organiser. I have been running Beachwatch events since 2012 and have frequently found evidence of balloons and sky lanterns during these events. I have run over 20 separate Beachwatch events since 2012 at a number of different locations in local to me.

I decided to get involved in this campaign for two reasons. Firstly to raise awareness locally about the dangers to the environment from balloons and sky lanterns being released. Secondly to do what seemed to be impossible at the time, get a ban introduced by my local Council to stop any balloon and sky lantern releases on land they owned. 

Sea Champion Andy running a beach clean

I had managed to meet a number of local Councillors through running Beachwatch events, some of whom had previously attended my beach cleans. To get a ban introduced, I first contacted these local councillors I had met. I had to be quite persistent phoning or emailing every week then after a few weeks of being passed around to various Councillors and Council officials, eventually I was put in touch with a local Councillor called Diane. Diane luckily is a very passionate, environmentally aware Councillor and she agreed to help.

We met up and discussed the campaign and she agreed to support me in trying to get a ban introduced in the Sefton Metropolitan Borough area. After a further few weeks of intermittent contact, Diane informed me that she had prepared a motion that would go before the next available full Council meeting.

Following the meeting on April 24th, I received the awesome news that the motion had been passed unanimously. This means that Sefton council will be introducing a ban on both balloon and sky lantern releases on council owned land as soon as possible.

My advice to anyone wanting to get involved in this campaign, just do it and don’t let go of the idea of getting them banned in your area. Just be determined and persistent and you will get there." 

Fantastic work Andy! If you'd like to find out more about our Don't Let Go campaign then visit our website - mcsuk.org/dontletgo.  

A sunny day on the Solent

MCS Sea Champion Graham Smith coordinates Lee-on-the-Solent Litteraction – an informal group which takes direct action to make their community free of rubbish. The group not only complete quarterly beach cleans and surveys as part of our Beachwatch Programme, they also clean up the beach every month throughout the year. Since the group started on their mission in September 2010, they have removed an astounding 540 bags of litter!

If you’d like to help Graham at his monthly beach cleans, visit www.litteraction.org.uk for upcoming events, or, why not become a Beachwatch Organiser yourself and coordinate beach cleans in your area?

Sea Champion Graham Smith and volunteers on this month's beach clean

 

 

 

Christmas shoppers beware!

Microplastics in our beauty products = microplastics in our sea

It seems unbelievable, but it's true: many personal care products like scrubs and peels now contain plastic particles. So, every time we exfoliate or peel off those dead cells, we may be doing our bodies some good, but we're giving our seas anything but a make-over. As the products are rinsed off, they go down the drain and that means we are flushing plastic into our seas where it contributes to the 'plastic soup' problem.

When you’re out Christmas shopping or hitting the January sales, check the list of ingredients on the label. Plastics can appear as: Polyethylene / Polythene (PE), polypropylene (PP) or Polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Message from Dr. Sue Kinsey, MCS Pollution Policy Officer: "It's incredible how many everyday products contain micro plastic beads. These find their way through our sewers and into our seas where they are easily eaten by all sorts of marine animals. Help us stop the practice of putting these microplastics in products by signing the petition and checking out products at home."

Sea Champions across the UK are going through their bathroom cabinets and letting us know which products contain microplastics so we can urge companies to “beat the microbead” and use environmentally friendly alternatives. Anise seeds, sand, salt or coconut were all used before plastic particles. If you'd like to take part too you can email your findings to Dr. Kinsey.

MCS and the North Sea Foundation want to get an EU ban on micro plastics in consumer products. Help by signing and sharing the petition:

 "Scrub Plastic Free!” www.noordzee.nl/microplastics-petitie/petitie

You can also download additional information on the issues associated with microplastics.

 With your help we can beat the microbead!

 

Simply by washing your face you could be adding the the "plastic soup" problem in our seas.

 

Sea Champions highlight the plastic peril in our oceans at Whalefest 2012

Marine litter is an enormous problem. Take a walk along a beach after a storm and you'll get a good idea of what's floating around in our seas ...plastic bottles, flip flops, polystyrene boxes, fishing litter, the list is endless. Plastic pieces, plastic caps and lids and polystyrene pieces are the top 3 litter items found in our Beachwatch surveys.

Plastics in our seas don't just go away. They break down into smaller and smaller pieces. Now hundreds of billions of plastic particles are contaminating our seas.

Sea Champions ran workshops at Whalefest 2012 to highlight the impacts of plastics to marine mammals.  After a talk by Sea Champions Volunteer Coordinator Ed Santry, the volunteers encouraged the audience to think about ways to reduce litter, particularly plastics, in their homes, schools and work places.

Are you interested in becoming a Sea Champion? Find out more here about our volunteer scheme.

You can also take part in our microplastics campaign to help us push for a ban on microplastics in consumer products.



Inspiring the next generation!

Mini eco warrior chosen to front publicity campaign to encourage more people to pick up litter 

 

Eight year old Jack Bowes who attends Southdown Junior School in Sussex saw his school get overrun by giant inflatable marine creatures thanks to MCS and their school workshop. Here, Jack learned all about the impacts of marine litter to these creatures and was so inspired that he has taken to cleaning up the local beach himself.

He cleared 3 sacks of litter from the beach single handedly, and found quite a few unusual items including an assortment of footwear! Flipflops, shoes, socks, gloves, bottles, cans, fishing litter... all manner of things were collected. But Jack's work is not finished, he plans to return with classmates to help him clear the rest of the litter as soon as possible.

Not only was Jack moved by the workshop, he is an inspiration to others too. As a result of his hard work, he has been chosen to be the face of the Planet Whales Campaign on the lead up to Whalefest 2012 this weekend.

Inspiring the next generation is what the Cool Seas Roadshow is all about, and Sea Champions can really help by promoting the roadshow with primary schools in your area. Email Coolseasroadshow@mcsuk.org for more information. 

Mini eco warrior Jack cleans up Newhaven beach

 

Beachwatch goes subaqua!

SCUBA diving Sea Champions found out just how much litter lies beneath the waves.

Dive clubs, divers and snorkellers took part in a litter clean-up… underwater!

Sea Champion Volunteer Coordinator for Wales, Rebecca O'Dowd, organised an underwater clean-up in collaboration with the Swansea Yacht and Sub Aqua Club as part of BSAC's Underwater Litterpick 2012.

Whilst SCUBA divers collected and surveyed litter underwater at Langland and Swansea Bay, volunteers who wanted to remain dry undertook a clean-up and survey of the litter on the beach.

Both the underwater and beach survey results will contribute to the Beachwatch summary report. By finding out where the litter comes from on UK beaches, we can run targeted litter campaigns to influence policy makers and change peoples’ behaviour to try to stop it getting there in the first place. 

"It was great fun! We were surprised that there wasn’t much litter on the sea bed but we did find quite a lot of fishing line and weights. It was a great activity to be involved with and we look forward to supporting MCS in other activities in the future” says Sea Champion Paul Nusinov from Swansea.

The BSAC Underwater Litterpick 2012 was timed to coincide with our annual Beachwatch Big Weekend, and will be running until the end of October so there is still chance to take part.

For more information and to register for the BSAC Underwater Litterpick 2012 go to www.bsac.com/litterpick or call 0500 947202. Don't forget to let you're coordinator know if you are keen to take part!

If you don't fancy getting wet but would like to get involved with Beachwatch, click here.

Sea Champion Paul Nusinov gets ready for the underwater clean-up!

A Cry for our Oceans

New Sea Champion holds art installation to raise awareness on the impacts beach litter poses to marine life

We have developed into a throwaway society. Plastics are lightweight, inexpensive and durable and can be fashioned into just about anything. We love plastic stuff, so why is it a problem? In short, plastic isn't the issue, it's the way we use it that has created the problem. A material that lasts forever has been cast in the role of a throwaway commodity and as a result is accumulating in the environment.

Sea Champion Tania Long from Eastbourne, has been hard at work cleaning beaches in the south east of England. Not only is she ridding these areas of plastics and other man made debris, she has used her finds to create a whimsical underwater world in an educational art installation at the Leaf Hall Arts Festival.

Tania has turned plastic bags, tubes and plastic bottles into fish, jellyfish, sea fans, sponges and even a mermaid!  Children will have the opportunity to make their own fun fish and sea critters in a recycled art workshop where they can share ideas on how we can help our oceans.

The event will be running between 21st July 2012 - 5th August 2012 at Leaf Hall in Eastbourne. Visit www.leafhall.co.uk for more information. 

Tania's whimsical underwater world!

 

Litter Pick Panic!

Brand new litter awareness activity ran by south west Sea Champions!

Sea Champions Tammy Palmer and Clare Johnson had lots of fun with the new educational game “Litter-Pick Panic!” It’s a great way to educate kids about litter, by recreating the Big-Beach Clean-up in a single paddling pool! All you need to make your beach is a paddling pool, some sand, a few pebbles and some clean and varied rubbish (...but please don’t remove these from a real beach!). After explaining the threats litter poses to marine wildlife, particularly plastics, give the kids 60 seconds to clear the rubbish, after which you can look at the types of rubbish and where they might have come from.

Are you thinking of manning your own MCS stand at an event? Why not run a “Litter-Pick Panic!" activity to attract people to your stand. Get in touch with your Volunteer Coordinator for support.

Any more ideas for children's activities to highlight our key themes of marine protection, sustainable fisheries and clean seas and beaches? Comment below to share your ideas with Sea Champions across the nation!

"Litter-Pick Panic" in action!

Over a tonne of rubbish cleared from South Queensferry - one of the largest ammounts ever collected during an MCS beach clean in Scotland!

Scottish Volunteer Coordinator Matt Barnes has just become a Beachwatch Organiser as part of the Marine Conservation Soceity's Beachwatch program.

Matt organised the first quarterly clean-up of the beach at South Queensferry in May with a team of 33 volunteers, who bagged up one of the largest amounts of rubbish ever collected during an MCS beach clean in Scotland.

The volunteers were blessed with brilliant spring sunshine and collected over a tonne of rubbish including a sofa, TV, trolley and even some bikes!

You too can become a Beachwatch Organiser!

Follow the link or contact your Volunteer Coordinator for more information.

Volunteers at the first Sea Champion beach clean in Scotland!