M&S volunteers to clean beaches and canals
Marks & Spencer is once again calling on its customers and employees to volunteer to help clean beaches and canals in their local community as a part of the M&S Big Beach Clean-up project.
Supported by the Marine Conservation Society and the Canal & River Trust, the 2013 event will take place between 22 and 28 April with M&S hoping that around 8,000 people will get involved.
The target is to clear more than 15 tonnes of litter – more than the weight of a double decker bus.
According to the MCS there are two pieces of litter on every metre of the UK coastline. Most of the litter collected is expected to be common items such as fishing nets, ropes and bottles tops. However last year M&S beach cleaners found an array of unusual items including a set of false teeth and half a sofa in Edinburgh, a cabinet near Liverpool, a ten-pin bowling ball in Deal, a carpet in Clacton and a pink thong on Shoreham beach.
Never Miss a Retail Update!The cleans will take place at 113 beaches in the UK and Ireland- including Swansea, Blackpool, Southend, Aberdeen, Coleraine, Dublin and Portsmouth. There will also be 50 canal locations, which are open to M&S employees only, in locations such as the Grand Union Canal in London, the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Leeds and the Birmingham & Fazley Canal in Birmingham.
Last year over 6,000 people, including 4,000 M&S employees and 2,000 customers, collected 3,200 bin bags full of litter after cleaning over 100 km of beaches and canals. The bags weighed in at over 11.5 tonnes. This included 12,800 wrappers and 2,850 tin cans.
Sacha Berendji, M&S director of retail, said: “Our Big Beach Clean-up is a great way for customers and M&S colleagues to volunteer, help their local community and protect our precious marine life. It’s a great fun, outdoor activity that is rewarding in more ways than one. Beach cleaners are helping the environment, their community and those that register in advance get a £5 money-off voucher.”
The M&S Big Beach Clean-up is part of M&S’ Forever Fish campaign which is funded by the profits from the 5p carrier bag charge in M&S foodhalls. Since its introduction in 2008, M&S says the charge has reduced carrier bag use by 78% and raised over £4 million for charity.
