GRANTON Goes Greener are very ecited to be hosting another CREATIVE WRITING workshop with an Edinburgh based climate activist and a writer-@KirstyLewin at @GrantonParish.
The workshop is part of #climatefestivalscot and sponsored by @KSBScotland
Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is delighted to award twelve schools in Edinburgh with an Eco-Schools Green Flag.
The international award recognises nurseries and schools which have demonstrated a commitment to the Eco-Schools Scotland programme and over two years have engaged their whole school community in local climate action.
The schools are: St David’s RC Primary School (which has held a Green Flag since 2010), Craiglockhart Primary School (which has held a Green Flag since 2016), Granton Primary School (a Green Flag school since 2013), Drummond Community High (achieving its first Green Flag Award), St Cuthbert’s Primary School (a Green Flag school since 2014), Ratho Primary School (a Green Flag school since 2010), Blackhall Nursery (which has held a Green Flag since 2009), St Margaret’s RC Primary School (which has held a Green Flag since 2011), Arbor Green Nursery (a Green Flag school since 2012), Hermitage Park Primary School (which has held a Green Flag since 2007), Kirkliston Nursery School (since 2005) and St Mary’s RC Primary School (since 2012).
All the schools took part in a variety of fantastic litter-busting and climate action activities including litter picks, litter surveys, recycling and community clean ups.
Pupils in the Eco Den at St David’s RC Primary School used their litter picking kit to tidy the playground. The nursery class also carried out a clean up.
Craiglockhart Primary School’s Eco Committee carried out a litter survey and using the results, decided to modify or replace their outdoor bins to prevent the litter from blowing out. They also wrote to the council to ask them to reduce the amount of single use plastics in school lunch boxes.
Granton Primary School’s Eco-Committee solved the problem of seagulls dragging litter out of the playground bins, by sourcing new seagull proof ones to replace them.
Drummond Community High introduced recycling bins to communal areas in the school, to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. St Cuthbert’s Primary School’s Eco-Committee purchased extra bins for the playground after finding there were not enough.
Ratho Primary School started a weekly class litter picking rota, with the nursery children working with their P6 buddies. Blackhall Nursery children learned about the effects of plastics on the environment and wanted to make long term changes at nursery and at home, so the nursery no longer uses plastic glitter or wet wipes. They also filled two perspex boxes with littered items to see which materials decompose and which don’t.
St Margaret’s RC Primary School pupils made posters which were displayed around the school to promote the use of bins. Arbor Green Nursery introduced regular activities promoting the 3 Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle. At Hermitage Park Primary School there was already a minimal amount of litter in the playground, and pupils aimed to decrease it even more..
Kirkliston Nursery School children joined in with a local community spring walk, talked about the litter in the local community garden and why we shouldn’t drop litter, and did a litter pick, recycling the items they collected. St Mary’s RC Primary School adopted a local street and encouraged residents to join in and pledge to take action on the problem.
Through the Eco-Schools Scotland programme, Keep Scotland Beautiful aims to make action to tackle climate change and environmental awareness an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of schools, for both pupils and for staff.
The programme provides a framework to engage the wider school community in climate action aligned with the purposes of Curriculum for Excellence and Learning for Sustainability.
To complete the Green Flag journey each school has a choice of ten topics to engage with, from climate action, to food and the environment, to litter, to energy. The schools also choose one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to link their Eco-Schools work to.
Catherine Gee, Deputy Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “I’d like to congratulate the Eco-Committee, pupils and staff at each of these schools, who have worked so hard to play their part in combatting climate change and achieve their Green Flag Award.
“This is particularly impressive during a time of unprecedented adjustment and change to education due to the pandemic and is testament to the resilience and creativity of both pupils and educators.
“Keep Scotland Beautiful is committed to supporting all our children, young people and educators through our climate action schools activities to develop the capacities, skills and attributes required to protect our planet and work towards our goal of a Net Zero future.”
More information about the world’s largest sustainable schools programme and Eco-Schools Scotland can be found at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/eco-schools
#BinWipes
#JoinTheWave
Scotland is being urged to bin all wipes – and ban wipes containing plastic – in a major new campaign to help protect the environment.
Scottish Water is asking the public to join forces to avoid sewer blockages, flooding, and pollution by consigning wipes to the bin.
And it is also calling on governments north and south of the border to work together to ban wipes made with plastic.
The new nationwide campaign – Nature Calls – is backed by a range of other organisations, including the Marine Conservation Society, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Zero Waste Scotland.
Help us reduce the impact of wipes containing plastic by backing our ban.
Douglas Millican, Scottish Water Chief Executive, said: “Our message to our customers is clear: please bin the wipes and help us protect the environment.
“And to policymakers we say now is the time to ban all wipes containing plastic and rid our sewers, rivers and beaches of this needless problem. Last year, more than 10,000 tonnes of material – the equivalent of 80 blue whales – was removed from Scotland’s waste water plants.
“Many thousands of tonnes more ended up blocking sewers, causing flooding, or being flushed into rivers during storms and heavy rain. Research by the Marine Conservation Society shows that wipes are now the most common cause of beach pollution.
“Wipes are an understandable convenience item – but many contain plastic, that cause serious problems when disposed of inappropriately by flushing down the toilet – blocked sewers, homes flooded with sewage, and pollution on our beaches and rivers.
“Every year our teams deal with around 36,000 blockages at a cost to customers of £7 million annually and around 80 per cent of the blockages we attend feature wipes. Members of the public, communities, campaigners, manufacturers, retailers and governments must all work together to do the right thing for nature now and for generations to come.”
The Nature Calls campaign was launched at Cramond this morning supported by Scottish Water volunteers taking part in a beach clean.
The campaign will feature adverts on multiple channels through February and March.
More information is available at www.jointhewave.scot
Wipes at Paisley Water Treatment Works
Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said: “The actions we take at home can help protect Scotland’s world-renowned rivers, lochs, wetlands and seas.
“Flushing inappropriate items contributes to serious blockages in our sewers, unsightly debris in our rivers and can cause great harm to our marine environment; by being aware of this and changing our habits we can all help protect our precious, rivers seas and wildlife.
“Every year, hundreds of millions of pieces of single-use plastic are wasted in this country – they litter our coasts, pollute our oceans and contribute to the climate emergency. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds and we have taken action to place market restrictions on plastic microbeads.
“We are pursuing proposals to ban some of the most problematic single-use plastic items, such as straws and plastic cutlery, subject to the impact of the UK Internal Market Act 2020.
“We support the calls to ban wet wipes containing plastic and encourage the UK Government and other administrations to work with us to bring forward bans on unnecessary and environmentally harmful products.”
A wide range of organisations have voiced support for Nature Calls.
Catherine Gemmell, Scotland Conservation Officer for the Marine Conservation Society, said: “A staggering 30,000 wet wipes have been picked up by our volunteers right here on Cramond beach over the last five years. It’s not just a problem here though. At last year’s Great British Beach Clean we found an average of 25 wet wipes for every 100m of Scottish beach surveyed.
“Our toilets can still sadly be gateways to the ocean which is why incorrectly flushed items like plastic wet wipes can be found on beaches across Scotland. We need to stop plastic items, like wet wipes, getting into the sewer system and out in the ocean.
“That’s why we’re supporting the Nature Calls campaign to ban plastic wet wipes and help reduce the number of wipes mis-flushed. Show your support for wet wipe free beaches and seas by supporting the campaign too!”
Keep Scotland Beautiful Chief Executive Barry Fisher said: “I’m delighted to see Scottish Water highlighting this important issue, encouraging everyone to be more conscious of the environmental impact of plastic wipes.
“We want doing the right thing for our environment to be easy and possible for everyone – including manufacturers finding affordable alternatives to plastic free wipes. This will make sure that industry contributes to the future without wipes that clog up our waterways and oceans, harming wildlife and permanently changing our environment.
“Scotland is facing a climate and litter emergency, so action to find affordable solutions to plastic free wipes is needed to protect the future of our country. This campaign will help industry and individuals to understand that their actions can and do make a difference.”
Zero Waste Scotland Chief Executive Iain Gulland said: “It is great to see campaigns like this become more prominent in tackling the urgent problem of single-use items. At Zero Waste Scotland, we understand just how important it is to ban single-use plastic – and single-use items in general.
“We champion more sustainable ways of operating, which is why we love to see efforts, like Nature Calls from Scottish Water, grabbing attention and encouraging us all to think about our throw-away culture. Each time we choose to reuse we are one step closer to a more circular economy that will help alleviate Scotland’s contribution to the climate crisis.”
Simon Jones, Director of Environment and Visitor Services at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, said: “Our lochs and rivers are a crucial part of what makes the National Park, and Scotland, such a special place. Not only beautiful to look at and enjoy, but these water bodies are also vital wildlife habitats and keeping them as healthy as possible helps us tackle both the climate and nature crises.
“Sadly, wipes can get into these water bodies causing harm to water quality, wildlife, and their beauty. We consider them a form of pollution and therefore we are supporting the call for wipes containing plastic to be banned and urge everyone to do their bit by never flushing wipes.”
Lang Banks, Director, WWF Scotland, said: “At every step in its lifecycle, even long after it has been discarded, plastic causes harm to wildlife and contributes to the climate crisis we’re facing today.
“If we’re to stop climate change and eliminate plastic pollution from our oceans, we need to rapidly phase out unnecessary single-use plastics and that includes a ban on wipes made with plastic.”
David Field, CEO of the Royal Zoological Society Scotland, said: “At RZSS we’re inspiring and enabling our visitors and communities to do their bit to protect our planet and the wildlife we share it with. We want to make it as easy as possible to be a champion for nature.
“We’re supporting the Nature Calls campaign because one of the simplest actions we can each take is to stop putting wet wipes and plastic products down our drains and we agree that wipes containing plastic should be banned.
“Not only does flushing these items cause flooding and pollution as they block and break pipes, but they end up littering our beaches and oceans and killing wildlife.”
Does litter bug you? Do you want to do something about it? This spring, environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is calling for Scotland’s communities to join a Spring Clean challenge from 21 March-21 April to help clean up our country.
Spending more time outdoors was an unexpected benefit of lockdown. But along with our renewed appreciation of nature, many of us realised Scotland is facing a huge litter problem. Our research revealed that 88% of Scots agree that litter is a problem across Scotland. And 70% are concerned about litter in their area.
If you feel frustrated about the litter in your community or the places you visit, you can do something about it. Spring Clean Scotland is the perfect opportunity to make a difference by picking up litter on your local beach, streets, parks and beyond. Get involved and help make the places we care about cleaner and safer for people and animals.
Every action, however small, makes a difference. Just half an hour of picking up litter and disposing of it safely can help an area look cleaner and feel safer, and evidence shows it also prevents more litter being dropped.
Why not organise a litter pick with friends, family, workmates or your wider community? Or find one to join in with on Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Clean Up Scotland map.
We know young people feel strongly about caring for the environment and want to do something about the harmful effects of litter in their communities. Your school can get involved too. As part of Spring Clean, there is a Live Lesson open to all schools across the UK.
Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “Across Scotland we have seen a steady increase in the amount of litter over the past decade. While this is a real challenge, we are heartened by the incredible work of litter picking heroes up and down the country.
“Our communities already play a vital role in taking action to tackle litter, with many people giving up their time to clean up their local areas despite the challenges of the last two years.
“We would love as many people as possible to join in and give Scotland a spring clean this March and April.
“For those that wish to take further action, The Scottish Government is currently consulting on a revised National Litter and Flytipping Strategy and you can still respond until the end of March and have #YourSayOnLitter.”
Inspired to take positive action? Learn more and sign up to join in here:
Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is inviting community groups working to boost their areas to join the 2022 Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood initiatives.
Groups with an interest in improving their local environment – from cities and towns, to villages, parks or community gardens – are welcome to register and take part, with a deadline of 30 April 2022.
Run by the charity in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the projects give volunteers and groups the chance to benefit from expert support, resources and recognition for their efforts to protect and enhance their local places. Our team of expert volunteers also provides mentoring throughout the year.
Following on from the success of last year’s theme of ‘Climate and Nature Friendly’, and joining the national celebration of Scotland’s stories, 2022’s theme will be the ‘Year of Stories’.
Groups will have the option to build on last year’s projects or start new projects and focus activities around this, finding innovative and creative ways to tell the tale of their endeavours. Some ideas are:
In 2021, Keep Scotland Beautiful supported and celebrated the achievements of over 250 groups across Scotland. The dedicated volunteers overcame the challenges of the last year, finding new ways to look after and enhance the places they care about.
This year a full Beautiful Scotland competition will be held, after a two-year pause, with medal certificates, category awards including the prestigious Rosebowl, and discretionary awards being presented at a ceremony in the autumn. Judging will be held from 1-14 August 2022. There will also be a non-competitive option, allowing groups to connect with others and take part without the pressure of a judge’s visit.
Catherine Gee, Deputy CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “The last year has been very important for action on climate change in communities.
“Volunteers across Scotland make a huge contribution to the essential work being done to tackle the climate and nature emergency we are facing, helping make Scotland clean, green and sustainable for nature and people.
“As a recognition of this and of the challenges faced by groups over the last year, the registration fee for Beautiful Scotland was removed in 2021 and entry will also be free this year.
“We’d love people from well-established groups, through to those just starting out, to register for free support through the Beautiful Scotland or It’s Your Neighbourhood initiatives this year – joining a network of passionate people who they can share their stories with and learn from.”
Kay Clark, RHS Community Development Manager said, “It is brilliant to see that Keep Scotland Beautiful will be delivering these important campaigns in full this year.
“The standard of entries across Scotland is always incredibly high, and we cannot wait to hear the tales of what all the Scottish groups have been up to in this special story-telling themed year.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said, “Scotland’s Year of Stories is a chance to spotlight and celebrate all of the incredible tales that make our country so special. And stories that connect us to the natural world can help create a more sustainable future for Scotland, and a greener planet.
“We are delighted that Keep Scotland Beautiful is adopting the Themed Year for 2022 and getting involved in our programme, we can’t wait to see what activities and stories local groups come up with.”
Brenda Whitelaw, of Active Arden in Glasgow, said: “We found our assessor’s visit extremely useful in giving us ideas to establish our garden and his terrific knowledge about funders, other similar groups we could learn from, issues we could encounter and plants of course. The assessment report is very comprehensive and so useful to our group.”
An online information session will be held on Thursday 17 February, 18:00-19:00. Come along and find out about the year ahead, the support and resources available, how we’ll recognise your activities through the year and meet other communities and volunteers from across Scotland.
All are welcome – please email for joining instructions if you aren’t already registered with Beautiful Scotland or It’s Your Neighbourhood.
A nationwide competition has been launched by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful to find school pupils from across Scotland to participate in the seventh annual Pocket Garden Design Competition.
Following the huge success of the online showcase in 2021, when 38 design winners were displayed to allow a public vote, we are inviting children, from as young as three, to design a colourful and sustainable garden.
The best design entries will be selected, and entrants invited to build and grow their garden at school before photographing or filming it to be showcased as part of an online interactive garden which will allow everyone across Scotland to vote for their favourite from 8-19 June inclusive.
This year designs should interpret three interlinked themes: The Year of Stories, One Planet Picnic and Wildlife Gardening.
Stories are a vital part of culture and community from well-loved tales of family and friends to famous fictional characters: they all give a sense of place, history and belonging. There are fables, legends, folklore, news stories, novels, fairy stories, investigative journalism, and myths to draw inspiration from and this competition encourages young people to celebrate that through their designs.
Eve Keepax, Education and Learning Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful , said: “We’re really excited to be able to announce the opening of our Pocket Garden Design Competition for 2022.
“This competition over the years has inspired entries from across the country and we hope that in 2022 it gives educators and pupils a new focus that supports learning for sustainability, outdoor learning and the Curriculum for Excellence.
“What are the stories you and your pupils could tell through a garden design?”
Pupils are invited to submit their entries no later than 5pm on 25 February 2022 to oneplanetpicnic@keepscotlandbeautiful.org.
Further information and inspiration from past years can be found at:
KEEP Scotland Beautiful has welcomed the opening of a public consultation on an updated Marine Litter Strategy which will run until 22 March 2022.
KSB CEO Barry Fisher said: “We know that 80% of marine litter comes from land and that we need to tackle this problem upstream. Our stats also highlight that 88% of people believe that litter is a problem nationally, while 70% believe it is an issue in their local area – this is unacceptable.
“For over 30 years we have taken action to reduce marine and coastal litter and played an important role in the development of Scotland’s first Marine Litter Strategy which was published in 2014.
“The two consultations running from now until the Spring of 2022 give everyone a chance to have our say on litter – on land and at sea. The next three months provide those frustrated by litter with a huge opportunity to have their voices heard.”
Through KSB’s award-winning Upstream Battle campaign on the Clyde and now active on the Tay the organisation has supported community Anchor Groups to collect data which helped them publish their first citizen science report in June 2020. You can ‘meet’ KSB’s Anchor Groups, and find out more about what they are doing to tackle litter from source to sea on KSB’s campaign pages.
Keep Scotland Beautiful is committed, alongside partners such as the Marine Conservation Society, Fidra, Scottish Water, Nature Scot and Crown Estate Scotland, to improve the quality of our marine environments.
Since 2014 KSB has also:
The Scottish Government is concurrently seeking views on a range of measures to prevent litter and flytipping, optimise services, improve data and strengthen enforcement as part of a separate consultation on a new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy which runs until 31 March 2022.
Keep Scotland Beautiful looks forward to playing their part by supporting people across Scotland to have their voices heard and to make responses to the consultations over the coming months. Find out more here.
Environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful has announced two new inspiring national events for January as part of Scotland’s Climate Festival.
Free and open to all, these events create space for conversations around climate change and positive actions we can take to tackle it. The popular inaugural event in December kicked off discussions with a crucial conversation on the outcomes and opportunities following COP26 and what is next for Scotland.
Highlights included discussions on diversity in the climate sector, thoughts on climate change in the finance industry and a fair and just transition.
Food: Women on the Frontline is the first event scheduled for 2022.
On 12 January a panel discussion featuring Nikki Yoxall, a farmer and educator, will allow people to hear more about the role of women in creating sustainable food systems, addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis through agriculture and building a sustainable farming movement.
People are encouraged to sign up to attend via eventbrite.
The second exciting event will take place on 24 January and will feature an online screening of Scotland: Our Climate Journey – a recent documentary charting Scotland’s inspiring progress in the fight against climate change – followed by a Q&A with the director Ted Simpson and producer Finbar O’Sullivan as well as people featured in the film.
The documentary is narrated by individuals from across the country, from leaders of industry, to activists and community organisers.
People are can sign up to attend via eventbrite.
The national event series complements a wide range of local community festival events taking place right across Scotland. The programme aims to kick start climate conversations and inspire community led climate action. To support local event organisers, an online Festival Forum event will take place on January 26. This will feature a conversation with Elaine Grant of Falkirk Delivers showcasing learnings from a recent two-day climate festival in the town.
Catherine Gee, Deputy CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “As we enter 2022 there is more urgency than ever for us to broaden and intensify climate action so that everyone, from all areas of life, can play their part combatting the climate emergency.
“Scotland’s Climate Festival aims to bring the issues discussed before, during and after COP26 right to the heart of our communities, providing much needed energy and mobilisation to support local action as Scotland strives towards Net Zero in 2045.
“We’re delighted to add these new events to the programme in January and look forward to announcing further inspirational and informative events on different climate issues, including the wellbeing economy as we progress through 2022”.
The recording of the first national event, held on 7 December 2021, as part of Scotland’s Climate Festival can be found on YouTube. The event, which was attended by over 100 people, included a dynamic panel discussion with four brilliant speakers, including the Minister for Just Transition, Richard Lochhead MSP.
As part of Scotland’s Climate Festival communities across the nation have been urged to register local events, big and small, physical and online, to complement the national programme. All events will feature on an online map so people can easily find out what is going on and how to attend and all activities will help amplify the call for greater action to support Scotland to become a Net Zero Nation.
Scotland’s Climate Festival is supported by the Scottish Government.
Further information can be found at:
Recent research from environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful shows that 88% of Scots agree that litter is a problem across Scotland. Litter causes so much harm to our people, animals and our beautiful, natural environment.
Winter is a time of darkness but one in which we traditionally celebrate with various winter light festivals. So, we have joined forces with new charity Paws on Plastic to urge dog owners across the country to keep the issue of litter in the spotlight; tackling it head on to improve the health, cleanliness and safety of all of Scotland’s people, animals and environment.
We are asking dog owners to ‘shine a light on litter’ by highlighting the problems litter causes, encouraging others not to drop it, and picking up a few pieces on each daily dog walk. We’d also like people to share their images on social media as they shine a light on litter.
Heather McLaughlin, Campaign Officer with Keep Scotland Beautiful said: “Our evidence shows that the number of recorded dog fouling incidents increases in the darker colder months, and we suspect littering levels creep up too as people feel, under the cover of darkness that they can get away with illegal behaviours.
“However, we along with the thousands of Paws on Plastic members who regularly pick up a piece of litter when out with their dog, are watching, and shining a light on the issue. Please help us this winter to raise awareness of litter, and the good work that you do to pick it up. We want to make litter picking the social norm, not dropping it.”
It is important to stay safe, visible and take care when picking up litter and we have guidance on how to do this as part of our Clean Up Scotland campaign.
Marion Montgomery, founder of the online community Paws on Plastic, which now has over 21,000 members across 70 countries, said: “Paws on Plastic encourages all dog owners to join the campaign to help protect animals and our precious environment.
“It only takes a minute to pick up a couple of pieces of litter when we’re out walking anyway but, with 1 million dogs in Scotland, 12 million in the UK, if we all take a minute, it adds up to a huge impact!
“It even has the double effect of reducing the amount of litter dropped as studies show that fewer people actually drop litter in clean areas. Pledge your support on our new website www.pawsonplastic.org.uk .”
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “We are delighted to support this wonderful initiative and to stand alongside Keep Scotland Beautiful and Paws on Plastic to highlight the dangers litter can pose and reduce the amount of litter in our communities.
“Unfortunately, we see first-hand the damaging effect litter can have on animals. We are called out to jobs after animals and birds have become trapped in fishing line or wire. Discarded rubbish can also pose a threat to animals after they ingest it and it becomes a choking hazard or affects their ability to eat.
“People should always dispose of their rubbish responsibly. No matter how small, it has the potential to be hazardous or lethal to pets, wildlife and farm animals. Shine a light on litter’ will help people respect the environment and protect animals from the risks of discarded rubbish.”
With Keep Scotland Beautiful’s annual Spring Clean Scotland set to make a comeback in March next year, supporting people across the country to carry out litter picks, and the Scottish Government currently consulting on a new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy for Scotland which will allow the public to have #YourSayOnLitter until 31 March 2022, this winter campaign will ensure litter doesn’t get lost in the dark!
Almost half of beach visitors now check bathing water quality information at key beaches following a successful summer of ‘My Beach Your Beach‘ campaigning.
The findings were released by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful in a report on this summer’s campaign.
The report also highlights an overall increase in people’s awareness of bathing water quality issues and their willingness to change key habits to help protect the sand and sea.
Specifically, the report reveals:
My Beach Your Beach launched in 2018, and since then has supported bathing water quality improvements at a selection of Scottish beaches.
The publication of the report follows an announcement from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) earlier this week that bathing water classifications this year had shown marked improvements at a number of campaign beaches, thanks to a wider suite of measures.
Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said: “Scotland’s bathing water quality is now at its best since 2015, and the My Beach Your Beach campaign has done great work to encourage people to do what was needed to deliver that.
“People’s choices and habits really do make a difference, so it’s important that we all continue doing what we can to help keep the sand and sea clean for everyone to enjoy.”
Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said: ‘My Beach Your Beach is a wonderful collaborative campaign which has raised awareness of what people can do in their own communities to care for the sand and sea.
“We are thrilled to see such wonderful results this year, highlighting the impact that the campaign has had both in terms of awareness raising, engagement and concrete outcomes such as improved bathing water quality.
“We were pleased to establish an exciting new partnership with Scotrail to target beach visitors this year, and I’d also like to thank all the partners, communities and individuals who have worked with us this summer and in past years to make the campaign a success and whose actions have contributed to delivering real improvements in bathing water quality.”
Throughout the summer the campaign raised awareness of bathing water quality and the key habits that can impact on it, encouraging everyone to play their part in helping to protect the sand and sea.
This includes bagging and binning dog poo, taking all litter away and not feeding gulls near the beach, as well as never pouring fats, oils and greases down the sink, or flushing things like wet wipes and other sanitary items down the toilet, as these can cause pipe blockages and sewage overflows.
You can read the full report here and find out more about the campaign at:
