Hey Melanie,

How are you? We hope your year got off to a good start. 

In January, we were glad to see the government putting a deposit return scheme back on the agenda, hugely increasing the amount of waste that will get recycled. Might England and NI be finally catching up to our schemes in Wales and Scotland, and our European neighbours who've had them in place for years? 

Possibly! But the government seem to have forgotten their commitment to an 'all-in' scheme, as glass bottles are nowhere to be seen. 👀 Half-hearted attempts are so disappointing to see, but we'll keep working to drive change.

On water quality, the sewage crisis continues to get the national recognition it deserves. The smoke is lifting and the general public are seeing the scale of pollution that has been hidden by profiteering water companies and lax regulators. Thames Water have released their inland sewage map data and we hope that all other water companies will follow suit. Here's to more transparency and less sewage.✊

Last month did also see us get an unpleasant shout-out from an MP, but we're taking it as a compliment. "What campaigners like Surfers Against Sewage are trying to do is fearmonger and that's wrong. Some of the statements they come out with are quite frankly outrageous." 💩

Lo and behold, we have a new website 🎉

We know, we know, our website needed a good makeover. And finally, it's here! We hope the new site will make it easier to find exactly what you're looking for to help you on your Ocean Activist journey. Everything from educational resources for schools, and directly emailing your MP,  to your local beach clean. Go take a look around! 👇

January's shitstorm: This year in January alone there were...

💩2884 sewage spills across the UK.

And these are just the ones we have data for. Hundreds of inland sites go unmonitored and more when CSOs are in maintenance. 

We joined the #DirtyWater Campaign Action in St Agnes 

Our team at HQ in St Agnes joined the #DirtyWater Campaign on Saturday 28th Jan. With activists up and down the country, led by Extinction Rebellion, we took part in a national day of action against sewage pollution. More info here. 

Here's one for our young Ocean Activists! This March, our Plastic Free Schools team will be running a Nationwide Trash Mob. ✊

Plastic Pollution is wreaking havoc and destruction on our environment, and endangering the wildlife that lives there. If it's in our playgrounds today, then it's in rivers tomorrow, and in the ocean forever.

Plastic Free Schools is linking up with British Science Week for a Nationwide TRASH MOB! Pupils will learn how to be citizen scientists, collecting vital data (plastic pollution) which will act as evidence to hold industries to account for the packaging it produces, drive awareness of the issue of single-use plastic pollution, and empower others to take the same positive steps. 🌊 Click here to get your local school involved!

For the ocean, 

🌊 Jade, Communications Officer