How To Do A Beach Clean

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If you live near a beach and want to do something good for your local environment, take part in Clean Beaches Week by doing a beach clean! Grab some mates, some bin bags and some elbow grease and get organised. Here’s everything you need to know…

First up, pick your place…

The first thing you need to do is check that you’re actually allowed to go and clean the beach near you. Get in touch with your local council or parks agency to find out. If you get the go ahead, it’s time to visit! Go to your local beach and pick your area - maybe you want to do the whole stretch, or just one section. Whatever you choose, make sure that you, and any volunteers doing it with you, can safely access the site. Make sure to take note of a place where all of you can meet on the day, and particular areas that need more cleaning than others. 

Then, reach out to recyclers in your area - they may be able to accept any glass, plastic or aluminium that you collect. This will also help keep your beach clean and organised as you’ll be able to sort things that will go in bins and will get recycled - maybe clear bin bags or containers for recyclables and black bags for normal rubbish. 

Get organised

A beach clean takes a lot of work and needs to be organised well, so pick someone - that could be you! - who loves a good list! Let them keep everyone on track before, during, and after the event. Make sure they know who’s coming, how long they’ll be there for, where they’re going and what they’ve brought with them. 

Find people to help

Sure, you could do this on your own, but it’s always more fun with a team! Try and get your fam, your friends and your neighbours involved. Why not ask your classmates, or create a Facebook group where people can ask to come and post any questions they might have about doing it. 

You never know who may end up helping you! On Action Day back in April, a team of Changemakers who had all been on NCS decided to get together and do a beach clean in Eastbourne. They teamed up with Plastic Free Eastbourne to clean up their local area and raise awareness on single use plastics. Whilst they were planning their day, they spoke to their local MP, Caroline Ansell about what they were doing. They invited her to the day, not sure about whether she’d actually have time...but she showed up and helped them clean! The day was a huge success, the sun was shining and the group collected six bags of rubbish in total. Caroline was so impressed with the team, saying, “Many have said that young people are the lost generation of the pandemic but it’s clear that’s totally wrong and that these teenagers just want to get on with their lives and help others.”

So, don’t be shy when getting your team together! Ask your locals and get everyone involved. Just remember to take note of how many people say they will help - that’ll give you a better idea of what to expect on the day and what kind of supplies you might need to take.

Speaking of supplies…

Alongside your bin bags or containers to actually collect the rubbish, you’ll need to think of other things to keep you all safe and help you work efficiently. Face masks and hand sanitiser are a must right now anyway, but are also very useful when dealing with litter picking! You should also either provide, or ask everyone to bring a pair of gloves (think garden gloves with rubber fingers) to protect your hands, suncream, bug spray, reusable water bottles and snacks. And, if you can find them, litter pickers are also really helpful if you, or anyone on your team, doesn’t want to touch rubbish at all. And, most importantly, bring a first aid kit. You hopefully won’t have to use it at all, but it’s better to be prepared just in case! And hey, if there’s a first aider on the team too that’d be even better!

Get cleaning…

So you’ve got all your supplies, your team is raring to go, you know where you’re meeting and how long you’re cleaning for….now it’s just time to do it! And don’t forget to take loads of pictures to share (tag us @NCS and we’ll repost our faves!) and show the world the good you’re doing.