Love your coastline: Wardie Bay deep clean!

Wardie Bay Beach will be receiving a thorough clean on Saturday 1st April as part of Beachwatch, the Marine Conservation Society’s beach clean and litter survey which aims to highlight the issues of beach litter around the UK’s coastline. 

Local Beachwatch organiser, Karen Bates ,from MCS Sea Champions, says she would love to see more volunteers than ever before lend a hand to make this latest clean of Wardie Bay beach on the Granton waterfront the most succesful yet.

The event takes place on Saturday 1st April , starting at 12pm – 2.30pm and it promises to be a fun and informative social occasion.

“The tide of litter washing up on our shores is not just unpleasant to look at, it can harm and even kill some of our best-loved marine wildlife,” Karen explained.

“Over 170 species including seabirds, turtles and whales have mistaken marine litter for food and actually eaten it, which in many cases has resulted in starvation, poisoning and ultimately a slow, painful death.

“Plastic packaging and discarded fishing nets also injure, entangle and drown some of Britain’s favourite marine animals, including seals and dolphins.”

MCS surveys have recorded a steady increase in the amount of beach litter since 1994.

The four main sources of litter found on UK beaches come from the public: 

fishing, sanitary waste (particularly cotton bud sticks) and shipping.

“We want people to come down to Wardie Bay Beach on Saturday 1st April and take part in an event that will not only make the beach look great for visitors but will also help MCS identify where the litter comes from and try to stop it at source”, Karen added.

The last Beachwatch clean up at Wardie Bay Beach found 35.3kg of plastic, rubber, metal, glass and sewage waste in twelve bags of rubbish from within a 100m stretch of survey area along the tideline. Our twelve hardy local volunteers relieved the beach of everything from a hot water bottle to nearly 1,000 cotton bud sticks in just two hours.

MCS Beachwatch results are vital in turning the tide on litter. They have helped influence changes to laws on the disposing of waste at sea, and resulted in investment in better sewage treatment at the coast. Local beach cleans like the one at Wardie Bay Beach all help towards highlighting this serious issue.