On Saturday 21 September a group of 15 staff from the Edinburgh CRF, along with their friends and family, headed down to Musselburgh to take part in the Great British Beach Clean.
We arrived at 11am to be briefed on the clean up and were given equipment to use and instructed on how to carry out the beach clean. We had to be careful to only collect rubbish and not put any natural objects into our bags as the team were carrying out a survey of all of the litter gathered that day.
Thankfully, the sun was shining so it was the perfect weather to be spending a couple of hours roaming around on the beach. Our team worked hard and filled up our big blue bags with as much litter and tiny pieces of plastics that we could find. We mostly found glass, plastic, pottery and rope fibres along with a few stray takeaway boxes. The biggest find of the day was a huge tyre half buried in the sand… rather large to fit in the bags!
All of the rubbish collected that day was gathered together to be surveyed. The results of the survey are submitted to the Beachwatch database and the data will be published in November. In previous years, the Beachwatch survey results have helped to influence significant policy changes in the war on plastics, helping to bring in the 5p charge on plastic carrier bags and the ban on the use of microbeads in personal care products. We will share the outcomes from the next report here on the blog when they are available.
If you are interested in getting involved with a beach clean, you can find out more information and search for a local clean up here – https://www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/events
There are also other events where you can volunteer and get involved; some members of the Sustainability Committee are hoping to join a SUSTRANS cycle path clean up soon. You can find out more about the cycle path and how to volunteer here – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sustrans-7919028867
There are many volunteering opportunities available, not just clean up events, and the Volunteer Scotland website is a great resource. There you will find volunteering opportunities all over Scotland from helping in charity shops, to gardening, fundraising and volunteering as a youth activity leader. Check out their website for more information – https://search.volunteerscotland.net/search
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