What can be done to reduce beach litter?

[Rog]

The quality of the bathing water at our seaside resorts has been getting better every year. But, our beaches just keep getting dirtier.

While just two coastal bathing areas out of a total of 567 in the UK failed to meet the EU's recent water quality standard, the figures for beaches makes grim reading.

Plastic litter on the UK's beaches is up by a staggering 126% since 1994, according to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Beachwatch 2007 survey report published today.

Conservationists blame the increase on the massive rise in plastic production and the general 'throwaway nature of modern society'. They warn that as well as putting off tourists, the litter is also a threat to wildlife.

What can be done to reduce beach litter?

[forfismum]

I went walkies down the beach today and in 4 miles I saw only 3 bits of plastic wrap,1 small and one large Coke bottle,5 logs and 1 pine cone.Not prefic ,but not too bad.But then the tourist season has yet to start. The only folks there today were walkers,folks with dogs and 2 horsemen.
On more exposed coasts I have seen lots more stuff that comes in from God knows where on the tides and it occurred to me that there may be a partial solution here to the pollution problem.Most councils and authorities are strapped for cash to fund essential work like cleaning up beaches but if you study the coast you will see that there are hot spots for rubbish.Same as after a drownings the bodies will ,if ever found,will wash up at the same place all the time.So maybe a blitz on the hotspots would be a big help? The other less polluted places could be done by volunteers.Just a drop in the ocean I suppose..................................

[karmakop]

Interesting spreadsheet here on beach litter.

Sort Tons of Beach Trash With Wired's Spreadsheet | Wired Science from Wired.com

[Wobs]

Ban people.

How much litter is recorded to be on a beach will depend on what time of day the survey is carried.

If a beach is a busy one, with families going on it daily, the council will often have planned daily tidying schedules, maybe with a tractor seiving the sand. This maybe carried out at the end or beginning of the day, but by about 4pm, the beaches could be covered in litter. It doesn't take many people to be iresponsible to make the beach look a tip, and a small minority of a large crowd can make a large visual impact in terms of litter.

Our local council has let things slip on occasion, but they have staff manning the beaches all day to look after them.

When the beach is surveyed, you have to make sure they are done at the same time every year to make a comparison, and the weather is similar, as poor weather will yield less people. Otherwise it is a misleading result. Also, you can't really compare different beaches, as one person will do all the beaches in a certain area, and as such will do one beach in the morning, and another further along the coast later in the day, and so they can't really be compared.

[arno]

People go to the beach in Britain? Surely not

[dennisanderton]

I'd suggest volunteer activities to clean the shores. I could suggest that establishments near beaches should be required to use and sell products that are biodegradable but...this might have been thought of before.

[spadlet]

Do they have many bins on the beaches? Maybe even temporary ones they ccan put out during tourist times? I haven't been to the beach that much and wonder how much is due to people being deliberately negligant and how much it's due to them not seeing a bin within their immediate viscinity?

[William Djubin]

What I like most is the 1st time beach cleanupers, they learn alot during the 1st hour.
You see, most of us do not go to the beach to look for trash and debris, but when you do & concentrated on only trash and debris on the beach its quite an eye opener.

However if the beach cleanup doesn't have celebration and is not inviting and fun, you will not generate a crowd; and not make your point.

Most Successful beach cleanups have some of these incentives.
Guest Speakers, Media, Surf Contest, Green EXPO's, giveaways, raffles, breakfast, supplies.