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Join our newest beach clean group

The sea defence works are finished and the brilliant new promenade between Rossall beach and Fleetwood is open. This calls for a new beach clean group to be set up! LOVEmyBEACH is supporting Wyre Council and the local community, who want to ensure people can enjoy this wonderful stretch of coastline throughout the year.

Everyone is welcome to join and this will be a brilliant opportunity to help form a new beach clean group. You’ll have the chance to make new friends, do something great for the environment and feel the benefits of getting outside, whilst doing something active. Plus you’ll enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Larkholme Grasslands and the Irish Sea!

If you want to join us, we will meet one Sunday a month at 10:30am at Larkholme Parade and the very first clean up is on 27^th January 2019. Future dates and more details can be found on our Volunteering page.

Hopefully see you there!

Kick start 2019!

2019 is here! January is always a time for reflection, recovery (excessive mince pies, anyone?) and resolutions.

Whether you’re trying to get fit, spend more time out doors or look for opportunities to spend time together with your family, coming along to a beach clean is the perfect opportunity. With the average event lasting 1.5-2 hours, there’s plenty of time to make a dent in your 10,000 daily steps! It’s also a free way to get some exercise – and there’s no gym that has views that compete with the beautiful north west coast.

If you’ve never been to a beach clean before, don’t fret! Equipment (pickers, gloves, bags) are always provided so all you need to do is dress for the weather and wear some sturdy shoes. It’s also the perfect opportunity to meet new people, great if you’ve just moved to an area or you’re just looking to make some new, like-minded friends.

There’s more than 40 beach cleans listed on our Volunteering page in January alone! So no matter if you live in West Kirby, Blackpool or Silloth there’s one near you

Avoid a festive fatberg this Christmas!

We all love a proper Christmas dinner with turkey, roast potatoes and all the trimmings! But did you know that you can help our coastline from the comfort of your kitchen this festive season?

We’re asking everyone to do their bit to keep the beaches clean this Christmas by binning their used cooking fats and oil rather than pouring them down the sink.

If you pour leftover fat from cooking down the sink, even with hot water and washing up liquid, it sets hard in the cold pipes and mixes with other unmentionables flushed down the loo, like wet wipes and sanitary products.

As well as causing problems at home, clogged sewer pipes that take waste water away can cause untreated sewage to run into homes, gardens, streets and even end up in rivers, the sea and on beaches. Yuk!

Each household pours around 14lbs of cooking fats, oils and grease down the sink every year – that’s equivalent to 25 packs of butter! Clearing a blocked drain at your house could cost at least £60 but could be much more. United Utilities attends a blocked drain every 15 minutes.

Protecting our waste pipes from getting blocked and polluting our rivers and seas means everyone doing their bit to help keep them clear.

LOVEmyBEACH, the North West campaign for cleaner beaches and seas has some top tips to avoid blockages:

Scrape leftover fat from roasting trays and pans into a heat resistant container then recycle or bin it when cooled
Wipe out grease left in pans with kitchen roll and bin it
Use a sink strainer to catch food scraps and bin
For larger quantities of cooking oils, contact your local council who’ll let you know if and where they can be recycled

Morecambe Bay and Cumbria LOVEmyBEACH officer Hannah Barnes said,

“Everyone loves the beach and wants to help keep them clean, but most people don’t know they can help do this from their home by binning used cooking fats and keeping the pipes clear. Even if you can’t come out on a beach clean you can do this small action that will make a big difference, so please #binit4beaches this Christmas!”

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Water quality

The Environment Agency monitors bathing waters – stretches of sea or lake where many people swim and paddle – to assess whether they meet the strict standards of the European Bathing Water Directive. The standards are set to protect public health and the environment from pollution.

The Environment Agency takes 20 water samples at each bathing water between May and September each year and post the information online: http://environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles/

The samples are tested for certain types of bacteria: escherichia coli (E.coli) and intestinal enterococci, which are not directly harmful but indicate the presence of pollution. The bacteria are found in the intestines of animals and humans and pass through the body in poo. High levels of bacteria = poor water quality.

However, the water may be cleaner on the actual day you visit the beach, as the quality can change, particularly after heavy rain washes pollution into rivers and the sea. Look out for daily forecasts at some beaches.

Each beach is also given an annual classification. From 2015 this is based on sample results over the previous four years, e.g. 2015 results use data from 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. 2016 results use data from 2013 to 2016 and so on. The classifications are:

Excellent

The standard is the highest, cleanest class

Good

Generally good water quality

Sufficient

The water meets the minimum standards

Poor

Bathing is not advised at this beach as water quality has not met sufficient standards

If a bathing water is classed as Poor, you are advised not to bathe because samples taken over the previous four years have been affected by pollution. This does not mean the beach is closed – you can still enjoy everything the beach has to offer.

If a water sample has high levels of bacteria, analysis is done to estimate* the sources of pollution and work is planned in the area to improve water quality. When this work is significant and is expected to help improve bathing water quality, the four years of data for the annual classification starts from the time the work is completed and sample data from before the work are not included. This is called step change.

*Estimates are based on computer modelling, DNA analysis, and knowledge of the local area. The estimates can never be perfect because pollution to bathing waters changes from day to day depending on the season, the tides and the weather.