If you’re near to the coast, you may have noticed issues with littering and pollution. We have some wonderful beaches in the UK but unfortunately many people don’t look after them properly.

The Marine Conservation Society has held an annual awareness event known as the Great British Clean or the last 25 years. This year’s event runs form the 20th to the 23rd of September and is sponsored by The Ocado Foundation.

Here at Bump, Baby & You, the environment is very important to us, as it’s something that also affects our babies, and their babies in future too. Taking care of planet Earth is the ultimate gift to our children, so we’d encourage all of our parents to take part in The Great British Clean Up!

If you’re not a coastal dweller, don’t worry – there are ways that parents inland can make a difference too.

What Does The Great British Clean Involve?

The Great British Beach Clean aims to tackle beach pollution, which is a huge problem for marine wildlife. This campaign, according to MSCUK (The Marine Conservation Society UK) has helped to make ‘some of the most significant impacts on beach litter ever’, supporting the following;

The plastic bag charge
Banning microplastics in personal care products (microbeads)
Better wet wipe labelling
Supporting a tax on single-use plastics

So far, MSCUK estimates that they’re picked up over 319 tonnes of litter during their Great British Beach Cleans – this is amazing work, but it puts into perspective just how much litter is dumped in our marine environments!

How can we get involved with The Great British Clean 2o19?

If you live by the sea;

Organise a beach clean up with your friends. Find out more about organising a beach clean here!
Volunteer to join an existing event.
Never leave litter on the beach.
In your spare time, take your kids to a local beach to litter pick. Make it a fun game by giving a prize for the most litter collected!

If you’re inland (coastal parents should follow these too);

Avoid microplastics. Glitter is one of the most prolific examples!
Avoid single use plastics that may find their way into the water table.
Recycle as much as possible.
Support campaigns and petitions to ban single-use plastics and microplastics.
Never litter.
Never flush wipes – they break down into microfibres which are consumed by marine wildlife and end up polluting the foodchain. Consider using reusable wipes, perhaps?

Remember, this is an issue that is so very relevant to us as parents. We’re passing on this planet to our children, so the work we do today counts towards a better tomorrow for them.

Let’s all get involved with The Great British Clean and make changes that help to clean up our oceans.

Love from Katie & Team BBY! Xx