Every time we visit a beach we try to pick up any litter we see, don’t we? Well, each year the Marine Conservation Society hosts the ‘Great British Beach Clean’ which sees thousands of people take to their local beach for a mass clean up. This year was no different! 10,000 volunteers joined together over a weekend to rid the coastline of rubbish. Some of the results make startling reading – although there is some good news.

Reduction in plastic bags and straws

While more needs to be done, we are making progress and there’s some good news when it comes to plastic bags and bottles. The volunteers collected 69% fewer bags than previously while Plastic Straws were down 25%.

Plastic bag pollution down by 69%
Plastic straws down by 25%

Unfortunately, this is contradicted by the fact that the number of ‘plastic pieces’ has increased. These fragments and shards of plastic are lethal to our ocean wildlife. The tiny fragments eaten by sea-loving animals are causing them to suffer and often die from problems from ingested plastic.

You can view the full results video from the Great British Beach Clean here: