We’re helping Marine Conservation Society to track sources of ocean litter

Exciting news!  We have teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society  and their Source to Sea Litter Quest  project to make our litter project even bigger and better!

Everyone has seen the upsetting images of wildlife tangled in ocean plastic.  You might feel helpless to do anything – especially if you don’t live near to the sea.

But – did you know that 80% of marine litter comes from land-based sources?

Litter dropped in our streets finds its way into streams, rivers or drains and ends up in the ocean, where it causes problems for ecosystems and sea life.

We want to do as much as we can to tackle this problem so we have teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), a fellow charity.  Some of our #2minute Litterpick Volunteers are going to become citizen scientists by contributing data to the national Source to Sea Litter Quest project, run by MCS.

Our #2minute litterpick volunteers already do regular litterpicks to keep their local area clean and tidy. We now have over 160 of these volunteers across Somerset – mostly at inland locations.  We are inviting our existing volunteers to take part in the Source to Sea Litter quest by counting certain types of litter and submitting their results to the national project.

You can be part of this too!

If you sign up as a volunteer and commit to doing regular local clean ups, we will give you a litterpicking kit to keep. If you also want to take part in the Source to Sea project that’s great! We will give you a special tally form so that you can count certain types of litter as you collect them.  You will then upload your results on the MCS website and your data will be added to this national research project.

Items such as plastic bottles, cans, plastic bags and balloons are a real menace to marine life.  By taking part in this new project you will be helping to track where they come from. Your survey results will be used to find solutions to ocean pollution and to campaign for measures to bring positive change.

Signing up as a #2minutelitterpick Volunteer is quick and easy and we will give you all the equipment and information you need.

Just click the button below to find out more

Find out more about volunteering