Marine Life & Conservation
MCS & Waitrose aim to create biggest beach and river clean event series ever
The UK’s leading marine charity, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and supermarket, Waitrose, have joined forces to create a new series of beach and river clean events to get more people than ever before cleaning and recording litter from England’s beaches and rivers.
Support from Waitrose will help MCS put on more clean-ups and mobilise the public in the fight back against the rising tide of plastic litter on our beaches. The supermarket is donating £500,000 from its carrier bag funds to MCS who will organise around 1000 beach and river clean-ups during 2017/18.
Lauren Eyles, Beachwatch Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said:
“Beach litter has steadily risen over the two decades that MCS volunteers have been recording it on UK beaches. Last year, on average in the UK, 694 items of litter were collected for every 100 metres cleaned. Plastic bottles and carrier bags, nappies, balloons and tiny plastic pieces can be found on almost every beach in the UK – either washed up, blown there or dropped. Our beaches are suffering, and most of the litter found can be traced back to us – the general public. But we can all do something positive to help – find your nearest event and get stuck in!”
The Waitrose Beach and River Clean-up series will kick off during MCS’s Great British Beach Clean event from 15th- 18th September. People can register now to take part in clean-ups at www.mcsuk.org/waitrose. For the first time, many of the plastics removed from the beaches and rivers will be sorted and recycled, giving them a second life as new products.
The charity has worked with Waitrose in the past on its sustainable seafood programme, and says it has partnered with the supermarket because of its commitment to the environment. Earlier this month, the retailer announced that all of its own-label packaging, across all food categories, would be widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2025.
Tor Harris, Head of Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability at Waitrose, said:
“The marine environment is important to all of us so the MCS beach and river cleans – with their focus on reducing pollution from materials such as plastics – were an obvious choice when thinking where to donate some of our plastic carrier bag funds. It’s our first step in donating £1 million to projects to tackle plastic pollution. This builds on our plastics environmental commitments to only sell paper stem cotton buds, nothing containing microbeads and to ensure that all our packaging is widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2025. We’re excited to invite our customers and Partners (employees) to take part in local coast and river cleans to improve the areas for wildlife and all of us.”
Waitrose will also launch easier-to-recycle triangular sandwich wrappers this August. The film window will be easily removable from the rest of the pack meaning the cardboard will be easier to recycle. Last year the retailer committed to not sell any products containing microbeads and switched their cotton buds exclusively from plastic to paper stem.
The MCS Great British Beach Clean is a ‘citizen science’ project that has become the most respected and longstanding beach litter survey in the UK. Now, by partnering with Waitrose and including river clean-ups, the charity hopes to create a year-long series of events that will see over 10,000 volunteers involved.
During the MCS 2016 Great British Beach Clean, 268,384 individual items of litter were collected at 364 events by just under 6,000 volunteers. Sandwich containers, along with crisp, sweet and lolly wrappers, were the third highest find with almost 44 items per 100m.
“A trip down the beach should put a smile on your face, but there’s very little to be cheerful about when it comes to the sheer quantity of litter on our beaches,” says Lauren Eyles. “We’re delighted that Waitrose are investing in our clean-up programme and are backing this up with commitments to reduce single-use plastics in packaging.”
Anyone can register to take part in the Waitrose Beach and River Clean-ups as a clean-up organiser or a volunteer for events between 15th – 18th September or at other events that are planned throughout 2017 and 2018 at www.mcsuk.org/waitrose
After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.
People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.
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- Bigeye Thresher Shark by Janina Rossiter
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- Carcharodon carcharias by Jimmy Higgs
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- Croc VR 2030 by Tom Mead
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- Oceanic Whitetip by ATM
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- Silky Street by ScapaJoe
The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.
One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.
Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:
https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24
Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.
Find out more here:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31
Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”
Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden
Until 28 November, prizes worth a massive £10,000 – including experiences, products and tuition – feature in a line-up of items that can be won for £5 in an online prize draw to celebrate Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation’s 20th anniversary and help generate crucial funds for the future.
Top of the list of prizes is the chance to spend time with adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall, a workout session with Nat Geo star Aldo Kane, a kayaking trip alongside white-water expert and diver Sal Montgomery and a Zoom call with ‘shark whisperer’ Cristina Zenato.
On top of that, some of the most admired companies in the diving and scuba industry have been quick to support the charity with fabulous prizes that make the £5 ticket price worth more than just a flutter.
Master Liveaboards, BSAC, Midlands Diving Chamber, Go Freediving and Blue Shark Snorkel have all generously donated experience prizes, while celebrated photographer Alex Mustard has donated a print and artists Scott Gleed and Olivier Leger have donated a sculpture and illustration to help boost the fundraising pot.
Fourth Element has donated Ocean Positive gear and LA watch company Nodus has gifted the charity a stunning dive watch. For land lovers, the charity has included a five star London hotel stay at Bankside Hotel plus a family visit to Longleat Safari Park in the roster of prizes.
Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with support from companies and individuals that we truly admire and who have supported us on our 20 year journey and we’re truly grateful to them all. While we feel incredibly proud of our achievements over the past two decades – and we are super excited about the next chapter – this prize draw isn’t a vanity project. It represents a real lifeline to our work and important advancements in the global protection of sharks. So we hope divers, dive clubs and even bargain hunters grab some tickets to make this a massive success.”
The charity hopes that the prize draw will generate crucial funds to launch a brand new, ground-breaking, campaign to enrol the public and increase support for the protection of sharks around the world.
To enter the competition visit www.bite-back.com/prizedraw. The prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2024.
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