Beachwatch is a national beach cleaning and litter survey programme.  People from all over the UK can help care for their coastline, meet like-minded people and really get stuck in to make a difference. 

Back in 2018, The Marine Conservation Society's Great British Beach Clean was the largest one ever!!!

14,527 volunteers took part, picking up litter on our beaches, an increase of 109% over the previous year.

494 beaches were tackled, an increase of 46% over the previous year.

And this is the litter they found in the 2018 Beachwatch: 

1. Plastic/polystyrene pieces (0–50 cm) 182.6/100m
2. Glass
3. Cigarette stubs
4. Packets (e.g. crisps, sweets, lolly, sandwich)
5. String, cord
6. Caps and lids
7. Cotton bud sticks
8. Fishing net
9. Fishing line
10. Plastic/polystyrene pieces (other pieces)

See the results here:

Why clean the beaches?

For me, the most important reason is to help protect our wildlife and care for them.   They really are threatened by the rubbish in our seas – marine life eat it, thinking that the rubbish is food; they get entangled in it.   They deserve better and they deserve and need clean seas to live in.  We want clean seas too.  We want to swim in clean water, paddle in clean seas and enjoy a beach without picking our way through mounds of litter. 

Join in and take part! 

Now, the good news is that if you can’t get involved on the actual weekend, you can always get stuck in and volunteer to help at other times. 

So there are a couple of ways to get involved:

Be an organiser and organise a beach cleaning event – there’s lots of information here.  There are already 900 organisers and there’s always room for one more!

Be a volunteer and join a beach cleaning event

For groups and schools, there’s more information here, including stuff for teachers with things to do e.g. Teach on the Beach!

Other ways to help the Marine Conservation Society:

• Spread the word (which we can all do)
• Join the Marine Conservation Society
• Donate to the Marine Conservation Society 
• Give a gift - adopt a seahorse or adopt a turtle, perhaps as a birthday present or Christmas gift!
• Don't litter!  Recycle, re-use, or don't use it at all...

Visit the Marine Conservation Society's website