Global Beach Clean 2024: York Dungeon September Riverside Clean

We didn't think that we would beat the 50kg of rubbish that we collected during our riverside clean event to mark World Ocean's Day back in June of 2024, but today we have completed our second riverside clean of the King's Staith and New Walk areas of the River Ouse and River Foss in York and have collected 110kg of rubbish!

Huge thanks to our business community partners who took part this morning; City Cruises, Double Tree by Hilton York, Bidiversity UK, the Carbon Reduction Team at City of York Council, and the Visitor Information Centre Team from Visit York!

Today we were supporting the Sea Life Trust and their 24 hour Global Beach Clean, with Merlin Entertainments sites around the world collecting rubbish across the globe in a shared mission to clear beaches, rivers, and lakes of harmful plastic waste, reducing its devastating impact on marine life.

Plastic pollution remains a critical threat to our oceans, with an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste entering the seas each year. If this alarming trend continues, experts predict that by 2050, our oceans could contain more plastic than fish. The consequences are dire, with marine animals suffering from choking, entanglement, and poisoning caused by plastic debris.

In just over 1 hour we collected 11 bags of rubbish, predominantly plastic and glass bottles, aluminium cans, cigarette butts, vape pens and refill bottles, and food packaging. We also retrieved a shopping trolley from the river which accounted for 37kg of the total, and a bicycle weighing 17.5kg which we believe to be stolen and have kept for the Police to collect from us. That still meant around 55kg of general rubbish collected, and prevented from finding its way into our two rivers.

Our next riverside clean event will probably take place in the spring of 2025, if you would like to take part, please get in touch!

And to find out more about ways in which you yourselves can support the SEA LIFE Trust, please go to www.sealifetrust.org