Doing a beach clean? Sign up to 'BeachClean.org'
We know as divers that every piece of litter collected and removed from our sea shores makes a positive difference.
Every friday, Gili Eco Trust and SeaMade get together with divers, tourists and locals at 17.00 for an hour, to clean the beach of marine debris and litter. Everyone who takes part gets an ice cold beer.
It makes it safer for our wild and marine life, and a more pleasant place to visit.
Some of us conduct an informal beach clean—we pick up random bits of rubbish when we walk on a beach. Others like to head to an organised event and get stuck in. This is a great way to join forces with like-minded people, and you can really see a difference after a couple of hours of work. But how can you reliably find a suitable experience without a bit of a faff? Ocean advocate David Jones has a solution. The PADI Course Director has established a non-partisan portal that looks as though it will be a handy tool for all individuals, dive centres, clubs and related dive businesses.
BeachClean.org is a free website devoted to beach clean ups around the world. David Jones, founder BeachClean.org
BeachClean.org
"There are some superb NGO's out there—such as 'Surfers Against Sewage', the National Trust, the Marine Conservation Society and of course Project AWARE—who organise beach cleans," stated David Jones. "However I have noticed that if you are not in touch with these groups, you can miss out on events. I felt that there was a need to establish a free website devoted to beach clean ups around the world, hence I have launched BeachClean.org."
BeachClean.org was soft launched last year, and the site has already been used by organisers in Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, the Netherlands and Tanzania. That said, there haven't been many beach cleans in the northern hemisphere yet, because as Spring broke several countries were locked down because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Beach Clean Organisers
Event organisers will find it simple to load up a beach clean. A succinct set of guidelines have been written with useful tips.
Organise it. Load it. Share it. David Jones, founder BeachClean.org
It is a straightforward process to load information, images and logos onto the website. The site has also been built to make it easy to publicise your event and link to your social media feeds.
Find a Beach Clean
Thanks to the COVID-19 crisis, it looks as though the "staycation" or a "holistay" is now de rigueur, as divers start to rediscover their domestic waters. It is quite possible that a diver will want to join a beach clean during their holiday, but how can they find out about an event when they don't live in the area? David Jones stated "if you are looking to join a beach clean in Cornwall, you type 'Cornwall' into the search box. You can clearly see there will be a Beach Guardian beach clean in Padstow on 19 September 2020. Just type your details into the site to register for free. Or you can register to know about beach cleans within 50 miles of your home. When a relevant event is added to the site, you will be automatically notified."
.jpg)
A beach clean in Zanzibar
Future Plans
In order for this site to be successful, it needs everyone interested in this activity to get involved and start uploading their events, or registering to join an event.
David Jones observed "this is a totally free 'society contribution' site. We would like however to be able to highlight events better, hence we are asking for donations. The funds will enable us to help promote these important events. That said we are promoting beach cleans via our own social media channels and we will look at local targeted marketing when we can."