Clarity Joins Marine Conservation Society for the Big British Beach Clean Kick-Off

Sponsored by Cully & Sully, the event featured both a beach clean and a panel discussion, marking the start of the annual Great British Beach Clean. It offered a fantastic opportunity to help clean a section of Brighton beach, collect important data, and learn more about the Marine Conservation Society’s ongoing work, recent data findings, and policy efforts. 

A team of three from our business joined 25 volunteers, including individuals and staff from other local businesses, to survey a 100-meter stretch of Brighton beach, just west of the pier. As is customary with the Marine Conservation Society’s beach clean protocols, each piece of litter was carefully identified and recorded to contribute valuable data on the types of materials found along the shoreline. 

In just a short time, 4 kilograms of litter was collected, with plastic and polystyrene being the most common materials, followed by rubber, metal, and wood.  

Beyond just collecting waste the MCS’s beach cleans purpose extends to broader efforts to gather vital data that informs future actions and policies. The MCS’s beach clean programme, now in its 30th year, is one of the largest marine citizen science activities in the UK. The data collected during these cleans contribute to the world’s biggest database of its kind, helping track the types of litter found over time and place, and supporting advocacy efforts for better environmental policies. 

Alongside other environmental campaigners, the Marine Conservation Society helped to implement carrier bag charges across the UK coming into effect in Wales in 2011, Northern Ireland in 2013, Scotland in 2014 and England in 2015. Following the implementation of this policy, data from their 2023 beach cleans revealed an 80% drop in carrier bags found on UK beaches since 2014, highlighting the importance and impact of their work on protecting our coastline and seas. 

In Brighton alone, 782 plastic bags have been recorded and removed by the Marine Conservation Society’s volunteers. In 2023, volunteers recorded 165 plastic carrier bags, and the most ever recorded was in 2023 where 10 volunteers found 32 whilst surveying the Arch.  

Aligning with our own mission to helping improve lives, protect nature and make the environment around us a better place to live in, Clarity is very proud to support the MCS in their work to drive toward a cleaner, better protected and healthier ocean.