Beach/park clean up

What you can do

Organise a clean-up in your local community.

How you can do it

Before organising a clean-up in your local park or beach, there are a few practicalities you’ll need to check off. In some municipalities, you need approval before organising a clean-up. It’s worth checking with your council, just to be safe.

You’ll also need to think about a good date and time, taking into consideration the weather. You’re much less likely to rally a group when it’s bucketing down with rain, or, on the flip side, the sun is scorching hot.  

Once you’ve thought those things through, it’s time to find and gather your tribe! Together, you can promote your event (using social media, local papers, talking to schools, libraries, and businesses, and through community notice boards).  

You’ll also be able to come up with an action plan for what equipment you’ll need, and where you’re going to source it from. You’ll need:

• buckets,
• tongs,
• gloves,
• closed-in shoes (people can bring their own for this),
• sunscreen,
• water,
• and a liability waiver for people to sign (there are great templates online).

If possible, try and source these items from someone in the group, or at least secondhand.

You’ll also need to brainstorm how you’re going to dispose of the litter at the end of the clean-up. Are there bins nearby, or do you need to arrange transport of the waste to a more suitable location?

In the lead up to the event, be sure to register the event on Plastic Free July’s events map. This can help like-minded people in our community find out about your clean-up event and possibly join in!

And, finally, have fun! It’s a great chance to socialise with your plastic free community and spend the day outdoors.

Take lots of photos and share them on social media. Be sure to use the @plasticfreejuly handle.

Taking the next steps:

If you’re supplying food and drinks, think about how you can do it in a plastic free way.

Another great way of stepping up your event is by measuring the number, volume or weight of the litter you find, and recording it in a marine debris database. Local researchers will be able to help you find out how.

The success of your event is a great platform to encourage others to organise a beach or park clean-up in their area, too.

Making an impact:

• Community events are a great way of bringing people together around common goals and values.
• Being involved in taking positive action feels good and is often more motivating than dwelling on the problem of plastic waste.
• It’s proven that people are much less likely to continue to litter in an area that’s clean and free from visible waste.