December 2023 Events & News
Contents
Events & Challenges – MCS survey at Dungeness, Christmas challenge, Members’ winter walk. a transatlantic item to look out for…
Have you won a sea bean?
Future Events
MCS survey at Dungeness
Saturday 16th December at 9.30am
This will be our usual survey for the MCS. This is a tough event with a 45-minute walk over shingle to reach our survey area, so is not suitable for young children or anyone with mobility issues. Please register via the Marine Conservation Society website if you would like to take part.
Christmas Challenge
Christmas is a great time for sharing and for being with family, but how much waste is produced?
Back in May 2022, Greenpeace encouraged us to record all the packaging we discarded away over a period of a week.
We are asking you to record all the packaging you dispose of over the Christmas week – from 24th to 31st December (whatever the material) and tell us whether it was thrown away, recycled, or kept for reuse, and send the results to Strandliners. This includes food and household packaging, gift wrapping and so on. We are asking all our subscribers to do this as well.
There is no blame and all the results will be completely anonymous – we are just curious about how much extra waste we all produce at Christmas and may repeat the activity in summer to see the difference. We will join in too, and can’t wait to see the results. There is a recording form and a few hints here.
What to look out for in December
Each month we will be asking you to look out for a particular item on your local beach or river bank. This month we are asking you to look out for, and record, detonation cord or shock tubing. This was first recorded by Strandliners in January 2023, and we have been finding it all along the south east coast since then. It has travelled across the Atlantic from Boston, Massachusetts. Find out why, and how to record it, here.
Have you won a sea bean?
Please check your email. Each month we run a prize draw and a member is chosen at random to win a sea bean. Winners are notified by email (from strandlinersmembership@gmail.com) but we still have several unclaimed prizes. Do check you junk/spam, as emails may sometimes go there. We would love to give you your sea bean!
Past Events
Ocean Symposium
This United Nations Association Climate & Oceans event in Bexhill on 18th November brought many environmental organisations together. Andy gave a presentation on citizen science and data collection, and Strandliners had a stand in the marine exhibition. Read more in the next edition of The Fulmar.
Buy Nothing Day
Strandliners were at The Library of Things to talk to people about Buy Nothing Day and help with the free re-gift shop.
River Rother brand audit at Monk Bretton Bridge
We picked our usual area from Monk Bretton bridge and then took the rubbish to Scots Float for the survey. All volunteers involved are amazing, from picking to sorting, identifying and recording. Without this expertise there would be no record of the environmental pollution at this site. The provisional ‘Litter DNA’ shows a large proportion of food packaging:
Social Media presence
We appreciate your support through subscribing to this newsletter, please share with friends and family. Another way to help Strandliners reach a greater audience is through our social media presence. We are notoriously slow at keeping up with social media, but if all subscribers were able to support through following us and liking, sharing and/or reposting, it would really helpful in boosting our presence.
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Membership of Strandliners
Benefits of becoming a member include a quarterly online magazine, The Fulmar, a monthly raffle to win a sea heart, and opportunities to join beach, marine & citizen science workshops.