National week of action planned to tackle marine litter emergency
A week of action will be taking place this month to help combat marine litter.
As part of environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Upstream Battle campaign, which aims to tackle litter on land before it enters Scotland’s waterways, the week of action takes place from tomorrow, Saturday January 20, to Sunday January 28 and encourages the public to address the issue in their local rivers and streams.
Events are confirmed across the country as Keep Scotland Beautiful aims to tackle the issue at a national level.
Participants will also be encouraged to undertake a marine litter survey that will contribute to a national data set for Scotland and work on addressing the problem at its cause. The week of action follows the publication of two reports by Keep Scotland Beautiful in December exploring the public’s perception of litter and its environmental impact, which found that 90 per cent of people believe litter is an issue across the country.
“There is a litter emergency in Scotland and this is causing damage to our rivers and seas,” said Barry Fisher, chief executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful. “With 80 per cent of marine litter coming from land, we need to take action now to address this issue and protect our waters. Our ‘Upstream Battle’ campaign focuses on tackling litter and littering behaviour to prevent marine litter at source. By taking part in our week of action and conducting a marine litter survey, you can play a crucial part in tackling marine litter.”
Visit Keep Scotland Beautiful’s website – https:// www.keepscotlandbeautiful. org/upstream-battle/raising-awareness/upstream-battle-week-of-action – for more information about getting involved.