Next Event:

** CANCELLED ** Beach Clean and Plastic Free Picnic

Friday 28 August 2020

Start: 11:00, End: 01:00

Highcliffe Castle Beach

Calendar of Events

The calendar lists beach clean events taking place between Highcliffe and Hengistbury Head, with links to the relevant web or social media pages for more information.

Take me to the Calendar

Beach Cleaning Stats

Get Involved

Can anyone get involved? Yes! You don't need to join a group or take part in organised events, anyone can do a beach clean at any time. For some tips, have a look at my kit and the apps that I use to see how I stay safe whilst cleaning up. To see what kind of impact one person can have, have a look at my beach clean statistics.

Would you like to take part in an event? Take a look at the events calendar to find the next local clean up.

Would you like to organise your own beach clean? Great! In the Christchurch area there are two volunteer beach clean co-ordinators and teams, supported by BCP Council and Litter Free Coast and Sea. Anyone can organise a beach clean and we will be happy to advise you how to do this safely and with authorisation from the relevant people.

See the Get Involved page for information on organising events.

Beach Cleaning Kit

Do you need to have a kit? No, you don't, all you need is something to put litter in. However, I carry a small kit with me to make sure I stay safe. It's not often you find anything untoward on our beaches, but it can happen and being prepared with safety equipment is invaluable.

I tend to walk barefoot and pick up by hand, so my first aid kit has seen a little action from sharp stones and punctures from disposable barbecues. Carrying extra black bags has been useful for cleaning up after fires and I always have gloves and sharps boxes with me.

Read more about what I carry with me.

Tides

When you're heading to the beach, it's really important to know what the tides are doing. Our beaches are wide and you're not likely to get cut off whilst on the main beach but if you walk out to the sand bars when the tide is right out, you can quickly get caught out on an incoming tide!

It's also useful to know what the weather is doing and when sunrise and sunset are to help keep you safe.

Have a look at environmental information

Check out the apps that are available to help

Useful Apps

There are a lot of apps that are helpful to beach cleaners and for those interested in plastic free or environmentally friendly living.

See the apps that I use to stay safe and informed.

Going Plastic Free

I'm trying very hard to eliminate plastic from my every day life. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying!

Take a look at the swaps that I have made so far and how I have got on with them.

You can also check the blog for more information and recipes.

Gallery

When I am beach cleaning, I photograph everything that I find. The reason for doing this is to be able to generate and also to be able to map my finds.

Everything that I find is uploaded to Open Litter Map for anyone to see and use. I'm very proud at the moment to be sat at number 2 on the world leader board!

Take a look at my gallery to see the sort of things that I pick up

Blog

Ok, I confess, I'm really not great at blogging. Well, I'm not great at remembering to blog! There are a couple of posts up here and there will be more along soon.

I will upload the recipes that I find for making products as well as providing insights and general information about my beach cleaning and plastic free activities.

Take a look at the blog