Beach Cleans
Think Global, Act Local.
Tackle the plastic pollution that blights your beachfront.
Fresh air, community spirit, a sense of accomplishment and a tangible difference to your local beach. Protecting the environment has never been so rewarding.
Pick a way to get involved...
Can't decide where to hold your clean?
Check out our regional maps and try to pick an area where there isn't already a clean scheduled. This way we can make as big an impact as possible!
Get ready for the next big thing
We host two huge volunteer led Clean Events every year - the Big Spring Beach Clean: Summit To Sea and the Autumn Beach Clean: Summit To Sea. Thanks to 45,771 people like you the 2019 Big Spring Beach Clean saw us remove over 71.7 TONNES of packaging pollution from 757 beaches, rivers, streets and mountains across the UK.
Sign up for our email newsletter for a reminder before our beach clean events, and make sure you're following us on Facebook and Twitter.
Organise your own SAS Clean
If there's no clean happening near you then why not step up to organise your own?
Our step-by-step guide makes it easy!
Do a #MINIBEACHCLEAN
No beach clean near you and you don't have the time to organise an official SAS event?
Take action against plastic pollution every day and do your own #minibeachclean
STEP UP AND PROTECT THE AREAS YOU LOVE
The stats for 2019 speak for themselves, we exceeded our targets and we now need you to help us go even further in 2020!
Beach cleans
Volunteer numbers
Kg of rubbish removed from our beaches
Beach clean boxes and Regional Reps
Marine litter disaster relief for UK beaches
Our Beach Clean Boxes are specially designed beach conservation kits.
They include beach clean tools such as; buckets, reusable sacks, gloves and shovels as well as vital scientific monitoring and education materials.
Many of our beautiful beaches often resemble ‘plastic pollution disaster zones’ – but our highly trained Regional Reps are the first line of defence. Each Rep has a Beach Clean Box, which means there’s more than 200 boxes spread throughout the country.
What our beach cleaners say
2017 Beach Clean Gallery
Beyond the beach clean
Take the next steps
Cleaning your local beach is a brilliant start, but together there is so much more we can do to fight the scourge of plastic pollution.
Beach Clean FAQs
What happens on a Clean?
It’s refreshingly simple and surprisingly fun!
- Say “Hello”- First things first; just head down at the advertised time, say “hello” to the Clean Leader and you’ll be made to feel extremely welcome
- Kit-up – Once you’ve signed in grab yourself a pair of gloves and a reusable sack
- Keeping Safe – Your Clean Leader will then gather everyone as one big group and make sure everyone knows how to stay safe
- The Problem with Plastic Pollution – Your Clean Leader will speak to everyone for a little while about the threat that plastic pollution poses to our environment, what to look out for during the clean and – most importantly – what we can do to tackle it!
- The Main Event – The Clean will usually run for two hours, make sure you get back to base in plenty of time to separate your recyclables
- Weird & Wonderful – Keep an eye out for weird, wonderful and old items. It’s always super interesting to discuss how and why they may have got thered!
- High Fives & Home – The Clean Leader will let you know how much plastic pollution you have removed together and get some great photos of everyone. Hopefully you will have had fun and maybe even made some new friends. Remember to enjoy your time on the beach that weekend and beyond, you’ve earned it!
What should I bring?
Family, friends and even a dog or two for starters ;)
Just make sure you are dressed for the British seaside weather! We have a good amount of gloves, bin bags, buckets and hand wash; but if you’re able to bring your own gloves that means more people can get involved.
Are cleans suitable for children?
They’re designed to be a fun day out for all the family. Make sure the kids are suitably dressed, and if you can bring child-sized gloves for them that will really help.
We appreciate that not all young children can sustain two hours of cleaning activity, and you’re welcome to stay for only as long as their boredom threshold allows. You might be surprised how much fun they have though!
Which beach do you want me to clean?
Yours! Every single beach is blighted by plastic pollution and deserves our protection; to start with maybe choose a beach that means something to you #protectwhatyoulove
What happens to all the rubbish that's collected?
The Regional Rep or Clean Leader will dispose of it safely. We’ll make sure that as much of the plastic as possible will be recycled. In most cases, the local council will have been notified and they will have made arrangements to collect the rubbish you collect.
What happens after the Clean?
You’re part of the SAS Beach Clean family now! We hope you’ll stay in touch with us for many years to come and play a big part in helping us to create Plastic Free Communities. We’ll let you know what’s happening and how you can stay involved.