BSAC is partnering with Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) for the second year to support the fight against plastic pollution and to bring to you the Million Mile Clean 2022.
The Million Mile Clean 2022 looks to build upon the success of its inaugural year which saw 142,428 volunteers taking part in 4,216 beach, river, street and mountain cleans, clearing 398,179kg of plastic and packaging pollution across 1,116,226 miles of the UK, making it Europe’s biggest beach clean campaign.
Million Mile Clean 2022 is set to mobilise 100,000 volunteers across the UK to each clean 10 miles of blue, green and city space.
As last year BSAC will bring the underwater litter pick element to the campaign. BSAC clubs, members and centres can now register their underwater picks.
Registering an underwater litter pick or beach clean
- To register an underwater litter pick or beach clean (or for more info), visit the SAS Beach Cleans website.
- When you register your littlerpick/clean, make sure you select ‘BSAC and underwater cleans’ in the ‘Volunteer type’ dropdown list.
- Utilise BSAC guidance on litter pick planning and safety when organising your litter pick.
- Keep us posted! Remember to submit your results and use the hashtags #MillionMileClean and #BSACdivers when posting on social media.
BSAC CEO Mary Tetley said:
We’re excited to announce the continued collaboration with SAS. This is a fantastic community and citizen science project and we encourage as many members as possible to get involved.
Supporting SAS to hold government and industry to account
The Million Mile Clean is an integral part of SAS’s campaign to hold business and government to account for the tide of plastic pollution choking the UK’s coastline.
The 2021 campaign found that the top 12 most polluting brands were responsible for 65% of the packaging pollution collected, with Coca Cola and Pepsi-Co taking the top two spots of ‘The Dirty Dozen’. Year-round data being captured by volunteers across the UK through the Million Clean will help SAS better understand the scale of the issue and hold those responsible to account.
Amy Slack, Head of Campaigns and Policy at SAS, said:
Cleans are a fantastic way of getting out and about in your local environment and making a difference in your community. While we aren’t able to pick our way out of the plastic pollution problem, volunteers across the West can help the fight against plastic pollution by taking part in a clean and gathering evidence to help us hold government and industry to account.
Practical support from BSAC
If you have any questions for BSAC on this campaign, please get in touch at maryt@bsac.com. You may find the following resources useful for organising your underwater litter picks.
- Planning your underwater litter pick dive
- Underwater litter pick safety guide
- Dive your underwater litter pick plan
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