BEACHES in Bude will be taking part in this year’s SAS autumn beach clean this November.

As coastal communities brace themselves against winter’s ‘plastic pollution storms’, Cornish Beach Clean Leaders are taking a stand and calling for fellow beach lovers to join them for the annual Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) autumn beach clean at 68 events across Cornwall.

With over 300 events taking place across the UK, the SAS autumn beach clean is a community activation that reaches farther into the colder winter months than any other beach clean programme. In this vital time, SAS and their partners the Crown Estate, Greggs, Parley for the Oceans and Ecover aim to unite, inspire and empower over 10,000 people to take action together to create plastic free coastlines.

With as many as 51-trillion microplastic particles polluting the world’s seas, the crisis facing oceans is nearing the point of no return. Hundreds of species of marine wildlife are now affected by plastic pollution, with millions of animals, from seabirds to whales, dying every year through entanglement, injury, drowning and starvation.

The threat to humans is no less severe. At risk are the wild spaces and oxygen supply, and with one in three fish caught for human consumption now containing plastic, it’s no longer a question of if there is plastic in seafood, but how bad exactly it is for people.

With millions of single-use plastic bottles escaping into the environment every day, they are at the very top of the plastic pollution ‘most wanted list’. This is why SAS has been working hard to persuade the government to implement a deposit return system scheme (DRS) across the UK. SAS handed 270,000 petition signatures into Number 10 this September.

This work is paying off and SAS is encouraged by the Scottish government’s recent commitment to introduce and the secretary of state for the environment, Michael Gove’s announcement of a public consultation on the possible introduction of a deposit return system in England.

Hugo Tagholm, SAS CEO, said: “What does this mean for SAS’ beach clean community? Well, with hundreds of plastic bottles littering every kilometre of our coastline, there’s still plenty of work to be done before we can begin to imagine bottle free beaches. We intend to lead from the front on removing and recycling them for as long as it takes, but it’s truly exciting to think that, soon, we might not find them on our beach cleans anymore.”

Tom Domen, Ecover global head of long-term innovation, said: “We are delighted to continue our support of Surfers Against Sewage whose cause is so closely aligned with our own. This autumn beach clean provides a fantastic opportunity for families and communities to come together to protect our precious coastlines and wildlife. The movement against ocean plastic is gaining momentum and projects like this are at the heart of that change.”

Bude’s Crooklets and Summerleaze beaches will be taking part in the autumn beach clean this year. Join in at Crooklets and Summerleaze on November 4 at 10am.

To find other events, visit SAS’ regions map, or contact [email protected] or call 01872 553001.