Beach Cleans

admin
, 14 May 2018
Beach Cleans
Beach rubbish © Mike Murphy

By Sarah Ward

Living Seas Officer

Over the winter we put on a series of beach clean events across Sussex to help play our part in tackling the problem of plastics in our oceans. We ran four events at beaches in Brighton, Worthing, Seaford and Bognor Regis; we were overwhelmed with volunteers wanting to help and had just under 100 volunteers who attended across these events. At around two hours per event, this added up to nearly 800 hours of volunteer time! So first and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to all the volunteers who took part!

In addition to cleaning the litter off the beaches, we also surveyed our findings, using the Marine Conservation Society’s Beach Watch survey forms. This means that we are able to add our data to their nationwide dataset.

In addition to collecting data, we also sorted out recyclable materials and separated these from non-recyclables. Sussex Wildlife Trust have partnered with TerraCycle UK, who have provided us with some special collecting boxes for hard plastics found on the beach. This gives us a place to recycle certain types of plastic materials which would not be recycled in kerbside recycling schemes.

So what did we find?

Across the four beaches, we picked up a whopping 4500 pieces of litter, amounting to 44 full bin bags (plus a few awkwardly-shaped extra bits!). The vast majority – 75% (3,290 pieces) – was plastic. The other 25% was made up of other materials including rubber, cloth, paper, machined wood, metal and glass. Some of the more interesting items included golf balls, ear defenders and a rubber Crocs shoe. However, interestingly, a large proportion of items were small ‘miscellaneous’ pieces of litter which had clearly been washed in on the tide, rather than directly dropped on the beach; this is most likely due to the time of year, when the beaches are less heavily used.

Due to the huge popularity of beach clean events we are putting on further events over the summer. If you would like to take part, please get in touch via email to book a place (places are limited).

beach clean and litter survey © Miles Davies

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Kirsten eden:

    Please can you email me future beach clean dates for east sussex

    23 Sep 2019 18:48:00

  • Chrissie melhuish:

    Would like to help with beach clean ups in west sussex

    13 Oct 2019 19:13:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1788331879.29410 [907] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1788331879.71950.4254Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1788331879.71970.0002Server address: 216.73.216.54
1788331879.71980Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1788331879.71980Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/beach-cleans
    [s] => beach-cleans
    [1] => beach-cleans
)
1788331879.72020.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331879.72180.0016 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1788331879.74060.0188 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1788331879.74290.0024INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1788331879.76140.0184 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24713184
1788331879.76250.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24713184
1788331879.76330.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-09-02 06:51:00' AND saleTo>'2026-09-02 06:51:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1788331879.76560.0023 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='beach-cleans')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-02 06:51:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1788331879.77670.011 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1788331879.7790.0023 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1539 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-02 06:51:00'
1788331879.78250.0035 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1788331879.78720.0047 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1788331879.79130.0041 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=44 LIMIT 1
1788331879.79520.0039Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788331879.79550.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1788331879.79940.0039 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-02 06:51:00' AND postSlug='beach-cleans'
1788331880.00790.2086Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788331880.0090.0011 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1788331880.01610.0071Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1788331880.01650.0004 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1788331880.02610.0097 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1788331880.03180.0057 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788331880.0370.0052 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331880.0590.022 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788331880.06660.0076Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1788331880.06660.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788331880.06750.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788331880.0680.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788331880.07020.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788331880.07130.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788331880.07210.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788331880.07460.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331880.09120.0166 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1788331880.09730.0062 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1788331880.0980.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788331880.09860.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1788331880.1110.0125Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1788331880.11160.0006 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='beach-cleans')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-09-02 06:51:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1788331880.1170.0054 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1788331880.1270.01 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788331880.13080.0037Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1788331880.13230.0015 [2] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1539 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1788331880.66450.5322 [2] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1788331880.66540.001Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788331880.66570.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1788331880.67120.0055 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1788331880.67260.0014 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1788331880.67370.0011 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788331880.68430.0106 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331880.71450.0303 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788331880.72720.0126 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788331880.72850.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1788331880.75110.0226 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1788331880.75630.0052 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788331880.76130.005 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331880.77110.0099 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788331880.78030.0091 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788331880.78520.0049 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1788331880.79210.0069 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1788331880.7930.0009 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788331880.79920.0061 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331880.8210.0219 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788331880.83040.0093 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788331880.83250.0022 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1788331880.84670.0142 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1788331880.84780.0011 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788331880.85470.0069 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788331880.86710.0123 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788331880.87460.0075 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788331880.87630.0017Request time: 1.6007
1788331880.87630Process time: 1.5916
1788331880.87640Memory: 1.6228