200 beaches. 7,000 volunteers.

the UK’s largest community beach clean on Parley A.I.R.

We’re partnering with Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) for the Big Spring Beach Clean 2016, the largest single community beach cleanup event in the UK, to take place April 11-17.

Storm Imogen recently swept through the UK, battering coastal communities with gale force winds and colossal waves and dumping thousands of metric tons of marine litter along the coastline. Marine litter is now one of the biggest threats to the health and sustainability of our marine ecosystem. A recent report predicts that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. Every day, approximately 8 million pieces of marine litter find their way into our oceans, causing the death of 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals annually.

Community beach cleans play a vital part in tackling the marine litter crisis, with recent research demonstrating that removing plastic waste along our coastlines is the most effective cleanup method. Plastic waste collected or intercepted along the coastline is now also being viewed as a vital resource, one that society can’t afford to waste.

The annual Big Spring Beach Clean unites over 7,000 grassroots volunteers in over 200 locations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This year, Parley and SAS are joining forces to implement the Parley A.I.R. Strategy and help turn off the tap on a complex, global issue of ocean plastic pollution.

Parley x SAS

We see key to the solution in collaboration. Through Parley x SAS, we will work together to ensure that as much of the plastics collected as possible at the Big Spring Beach Clean are diverted away from landfill and recycled in a closed loop.

Throughout the UK-wide cleanups, intercepted plastic materials will be sent to the SAS headquarters to fill a 20-foot shipping container capable of holding 38,500 single-use water bottles. Waste materials will then be sent to the Parley collaborator network for recycling, research and awareness initiatives.

In joining the Parley Global Cleanup Network, SAS supports the communication, education and direct action initiatives of the Parley A.I.R. Strategy and comprehensive Ocean Plastic Program that aims to raise awareness, address immediate threats, and set new industry standards for the ways products are designed, made and distributed.

UPDATE: record-breaking impacts and results: