Environmental charity joins local communities to urge everyone to take better care of the sand and sea
This week, members of Keep Porty Tidy, who are committed to improving Portobello beach, carried out a litter survey to kick off this summer’s My Beach, Your Beach campaign from environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful.
Over 110 items of litter were recorded on 100m of the beach and prom at Portobello, capturing a snapshot of the local beach litter problem prior to the official bathing season start date of 1 June.
Litter is a key indicator for the My Beach, Your Beach campaign, which encourages beach users to take better care of the sand and sea, supporting efforts to improve bathing water quality, and in turn benefitting the local environment, community, and businesses.
The successful campaign, now in its fourth year, aims to raise awareness of the actions people can take to protect the beach and bathing water – including binning litter or taking it home, ensuring dog poo is picked up and removed, and not feeding the gulls.
Last summer 90% of people visiting Portobello beach said they’d be willing to pick up litter when visiting the beach in order to leave it cleaner than they found it.
This year, during the Year of Coasts and Waters, the campaign focuses on seven of Scotland’s well-loved beaches that have faced challenges with bathing water quality, as measured by SEPA.
These are:
- South Beach, Ayr
- Troon
- Portobello Beach, Edinburgh
- Fisherrow Sands, Musselburgh, East Lothian
- Kinghorn Harbour Beach, Fife
- Irvine
- Saltcoats/Ardrossan (new in 2021)
Although last year’s campaign focused mainly on local beach users, this year the campaign will reach out to visitors as well, as lockdown restrictions ease.
In addition to old campaign favourites like the doggy ambassador competition and #LuckyToLiveHere image gallery, this year’s activities will include litter surveys for people to get involved with, business support packs, a Young Reporters for the Environment competition and educational resources that celebrate the beach.
Georgina Massouraki, Campaigns Officer with Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “Natural spaces like beaches are now more precious than ever, as so many of us have discovered over a year of lockdowns.
“We are encouraging and supporting people to take a more active role in protecting these shared spaces and asking them to consider leaving the beach cleaner, rather than dirtier, than they found it.
“Plan ahead to leave no trace, simply taking an extra bag for your waste can help, and if everyone also picked up a few pieces of litter along the way it would make a massive difference.”
Greta Elliott, Volunteer Manager at Keep Porty Tidy said, “We have benefitted from being part of the campaign since it began four years ago, seeing levels of litter drop between the first two years of campaign activity.
“The beach was very much a local haven during lockdown for many of the community, and we work hard to care for it and keep it nice for everyone. But there is still a lot of room for improvement, and together with local businesses, the council and the community we are looking forward to welcoming back visitors and supporting them to do the right thing and enjoy, but also respect us and our beach.
Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said: “We’re proud of Edinburgh’s beautiful beaches and so we’re supporting this campaign to spread the word – please don’t pollute the sand and sea and help us to keep Porty beach clean.
“Our cleansing teams have worked hard throughout the pandemic to keep Porty and the rest of Edinburgh clean and tidy and we’ve been providing information to make sure people who are #LuckyToLiveHere or visit the beach have a positive experience.
“We’re preparing for a busy summer and would ask everyone visiting the beach to respect our local communities and environment by using the bins provided or by taking your litter home with you.”
The campaign, funded by the Scottish Government and supported by SEPA is being led by Keep Scotland Beautiful to sit alongside its Upstream Battle and Clean Up Scotland campaigns and annual Beach Awards.
Ruth Stidson, Senior Scientist at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said, “Scotland is proud of its stunning coastlines and beautiful beaches. SEPA monitors the water quality across Scotland’s 85 designated bathing waters and supports the MBYB campaign in encouraging people visiting beaches to protect the beach and bathing water.
“Waste from animals or litter isn’t just unsightly but can have a negative impact on the water quality so we encourage the public to follow the advice to take litter home, to clean up after their dogs and to avoid feeding the gulls, ensuring a good beach experience for everyone who visits.”
Find out more about how you can get involved and contribute to the campaign on your local beach at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/mybeachyourbeach
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