John here's your March Ocean Activist newsletter

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Hey John,

Sewage is BIG on the agenda at the moment, and rightfully so. Thanks for helping us to keep up the noise. It might look like the government are moving in the right direction, but unfortunately, we think they're all mouth and no trousers. 👀

A couple of things to keep you in the loop:

🌊 The Environment Secretary, Therese Coffey, has demanded that water companies show their improvement plans for Britain's waterways. Sounds impressive doesn't it? We'll see. In the Spring there'll be a public consultation, so we'll be keen for your support, as always. ✊

🌊It's crunch time for the Retained EU Laws Bill. It's likely to affect over 4,000 pieces of legislation, including those affecting the ocean, and it's currently in the House of Lords. If you've been following the #Attackonnature campaign you'll be in the loop. More here [[link removed]] from the RSPB.

🌊 Out of five proposed highly protected marine areas in England, only three will be going ahead [[link removed]]. 👎But three is a start and we'll take it as a win, for now.

🌊 Plans for the deposit return scheme in Scotland are wavering. It's messy [[link removed]]. We asked for a well thought out, all-in, scheme, and we'll keep up the pressure to make it happen.

That's what we're tackling at the moment. Here's what else is on our radar for March...

We launched our third year of the Million Mile Clean on Saturday! 🤙

What a day. Thank you! Clean-ups took place all over the country, whilst we kicked it off in Cornwall at Marazion with more than 250 of you taking part. We had a great time and can't wait to get more of you involved in this year's cleans. Click here [[link removed]] to find a clean near you, or to register your own.

Raising the flag for forever chemicals 🧪

You might have heard recently about forever chemicals. [[link removed]] They're manmade and don't break down in the environment. The implications are widely unknown, but the scale is huge. And it's scary. There are at least 10,000 (tip of the iceberg) forever chemicals, and only a handful are regulated in the UK. The EU is proposing a restriction on the use of these chemicals, but the UK seems to be doing the bare minimum in comparison.

💦They're used in a wide-range of products, like non-stick cookware, water resistance, cosmetics, pesticides.

💦 It's not a question of if they're everywhere, but how much of them. What's worse, is that we don't know at the moment just what the adverse affects are.

💦Non-government organisations in the UK have been asking for a ban on PFAs by 2025. We'll be talking more about it this year, because we can't talk about water pollution without this mammoth issue. Yet another waterways problem that the government are slacking on.

🚨Wildlife and Countryside link have said that ' Our findings show 77% of rivers where toxic forever chemical PFAS is found would fail proposed new EU safety levels [[link removed]].'

You might like this...we're looking forward to watching Paul Whitehouse's show on Sunday, featuring epic clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey, to shine the light on our exploited waterways.

Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers - Media Centre (bbc.com) [[link removed]]

🍃Join the Big Green Hike [[link removed]]! It's a nationwide sponsored walk on Sunday April 2nd, seeing thousands of people across the UK hike to raise money for their favourite environmental charity (fingers crossed you'll choose us!).

It’s free to take part. You choose the location, distance and fundraising target. A great way to show up for the environment, have fun outside, connect with nature, and raise money to keep our wild blue spaces thriving. Are you in [[link removed]]?

A final shout-out for our young Ocean Activists📢 Our Nationwide Trash Mob is taking place from 10th to 19th March as part of British Science Week. It's not too late to get your local school signed up [[link removed]]. Go go go!

For the ocean,

🌊 Jade, Communications Officer

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Surfers Against Sewage

Wheal Kitty Workshops, St Agnes, Cornwall, TR5 0RD

Tel: 01872 553 001

Surfers Against Sewage is a national marine conservation and campaigning charity that inspires, unites and empowers communities to take action to protect oceans, beaches, waves and wildlife.

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