The Great Dorset Beach Clean – which takes place from 2-10 April – will see 16 beach cleans, hosted by local organisations and community groups, taking place along the Dorset Coast, from Lyme Regis to Christchurch.

Sophie Colley, Litter Free Dorset’s coordinator, said: “Get involved with this year’s Great Dorset Beach Clean to have some fun, meet likeminded people from the community and take part in an Easter litter hunt. Help us clear up our beaches prior to the summer season so we can spread the message that in Dorset we like to keep our beaches clean.”

Last year’s 2021 Great Dorset Beach Clean saw over 300 volunteers take part. There were 19 cleans across the Dorset coast. A total of 165 bags of rubbish was collected including tyres, buried rusty lobster pots, tents, oil drums and a gazebo.

Cleaning up the coastline will not only prevent new materials from entering our marine environment but also remove materials and degrading plastics washed ashore that may have been in the sea for many years. Over time, plastics break up into lots of smaller pieces, which are harder to remove from the marine environment. While larger littered items can entrap and entangle marine life, smaller pieces can be easily ingested, also causing harm.

Lizzie Prior, Beachwatch manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “The Great Dorset Beach Clean is a fantastic project, and we’re really pleased to be involved in this year’s events. We’ll be hosting a beach clean and litter survey for volunteers on 5 April. The data our volunteers collect has a direct impact on our work at the Marine Conservation Society; it helped us to push for plastic bag charges across the UK and we’ve since seen numbers of bags on beaches consistently drop.”

If you would like to join in with this year’s Great Dorset Beach Clean check out Litter Free Dorset’s social media platforms to stay updated and find a clean near you.

Facebook – @LitterFreeDorset; Instagram – @litterfreedorset; Twitter – @LitterFreeDrst