SAS Autumn Beach Cleans

Save a date to save our seas.

Surfers Against Sewage have launched their campaign for this year’s autumn beach cleans. You can sign up to join in a local clean and take this chance to give back to your local beaches. Can’t find a beach clean close enough? You can even get involved and organise your own clean for your local area.

It might seem a bit early to start speaking of autumn but the season is just around the corner, along with everything that comes with it. Warm sea temperatures, returning swells to enjoy and the exodus of tourists, leaving more room to breathe, all make this time of year one of the best for enjoying our local beaches and coastal areas.

It’s also a time of year when our beaches are particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution. The seasonal beach cleans of the summer wind up, just at the time when the North Atlantic hurricane season is building, bringing stronger storms, swells and tides. Combine this with the sheer amount of plastic pollution entering the seas and this time of year has the potential for an explosion in plastic problems for our beaches.

The Autumn beach cleans will take place from 19th - 27th of October, taking us deeper into the months of autumn. With the majority of people only thinking of our beaches throughout the summer months, it’s important to bring about this awareness during the darker, colder months, reminding people that a beach is not just for summer.

It’s the perfect time to give back to our seas and show thanks for everything they provide us in our daily lives, particularly in the summer when we enjoy them to their fullest. Surfers Against Sewage are now calling for Clean Leaders; volunteers to help organise and cleans in their local area. Simply visit their website to sign up, and SAS will provide the tools needed to organise the clean in your area.

“What if I don’t live by a beach?” we hear you cry! Well, the simple answer is: you don’t have to. Plastic pollution is not just a coastal issue so, wherever you are in the world, taking a little time out to clean up your patch is a great way to do your bit. It pays to remember that SAS’s beach cleans this year have carried the title, ‘from summit to sea’, highlighting that all our environmental systems are interconnected, and it’s not just our beaches that need help.

The Finisterre team will be out in force to help our neighbours in the big Wheal Kitty clean, and we hope you can join a local clean near you. Every little helps, no matter how big or small the person or contribution, so get signed up and keep an eye out for more information on Autumn Beach Clean sessions.

For more information on SAS beach cleans, visit their website.

Image by Ian Lean