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Our next public beach clean: TBC
Join us at our next beach clean. No need to sign up, just turn up! Click here for more event information.
1 MILLION
100,000 marine mammals/turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by plastic pollution every year.
The Issue
Pollution is a major threat to the world's marine life. Millions of tonnes of waste pours into our oceans every year, which is responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of birds, turtles and mammals (and that's just the big things). Plastic has even been found in the deepest parts of the ocean, as far as Antarctica.
Within the UK, its sadly a common sight and many of our beaches are overrun with both small and large waste items. This problem ultimately stems from the mass production and consumption of single-use plastics, as well as a lack of proper waste disposal. Consequently, many of our native wildlife species are suffering, through ingestion or entanglement of plastics/fishing nets. We need to act now!
How long does our rubbish take to biodegrade?
Plastic Bag:
100-300 years
Cigarette Butt:
15 years
Plastic Bottle:
100-1000 years
Glass Bottle:
4000 years
Food Wrappers:
100-300 years
Paper:
3-6 months
What We Are Doing
At Giving to Conserve, this issue is close to our hearts. Aside from maintaining our eco-friendly and sustainable products and packaging promise, we wanted to do more.
From June 2021, our passionate team have run both public and private beach cleaning events across the south-east of England. These events provide the opportunity for anyone to to join the fight to prevent pollution in our oceans and beaches. We have since removed more than 40kg of waste from our beaches with help from our fantastic team of volunteers. Are you interested in joining us on a beach clean? See below for more details.
of rubbish was cleared over...
completed where...
of coastline.
Join us on a beach clean
In collaboration with Surfers Against Sewage, we run several beach cleans throughout the year.
Our public beach cleans are free, community-based events focussed on making a small, but important difference to our coastlines. All equipment is provided for by us, so all you need to bring is yourself. No need to register or contact us.
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Our private beach cleans are available for all organisations (businesses, community groups, school/college/university classes etc.), however we do charge a fee for this to cover equipment, educational talks and anything extra that is arranged. Please get in contact with us if you are interested.
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Below you can find additional information about event timings. You can also subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date with any upcoming cleans.
Public beach cleans take place as follows:
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2 - 2:15pm:
Introduction, safety briefing and equipment hand-out.
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2:15 - 3:15 pm:
Beach clean takes place.
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3:15 - 3:30pm:
Conclusive talk, questions, equipment collection, group photo and farewells!
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Download and view our safety guideline document here. As much as we hope the sun will shine down, please be prepared for all weather. Don't forget that waterproof, just in case. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear.
Our latest event was a private beach clean with Sky UK at Southend-on-Sea. It saw over 16kg of waste removed from just 1.1 miles of coastline! This is a huge achievement for the team of 14 volunteers who got stuck in, yet it is a scary reminder of the sheer amount of rubbish on our beaches. We also educated the team on how long items take to biodegrade and how we can reduce our impact. Not only does this impact wildlife, but it also harbors bacteria which puts our own health at risk. All waste was carefully sorted through, to ensure we recycled as much as possible. An enjoyable and rewarding day for all!
Calling all organisations!
We also run private beach cleans, aimed at any organisations, businesses and colleges/universities. These events are tailored to the individual group, where schedules and educational talks can be arranged. If you are interested, please contact us.