Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 1 out of 18. Purpose: Section divider Timing: 20 seconds What you can say: Marine litter doesn’t just affect turtles. I’m now going to give you a brief introduction to the problems associated with marine litter and about how you can get involved with Beachwatch – the charity’s national volunteer beach clean and litter survey programme.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 2 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the problems with marine litter Timing: 10 seconds What you can say: At least 177 marine species are known to have ingested litter.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 3 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the global impact of marine litter Timing: 30 seconds What you can say: The American captain, Charles Moore, made a shocking discovery in 1997 when sailing the Pacific Ocean. In the middle of the ocean, thousands of miles away from civilization, he found huge amounts of plastics in an area the size of Texas! This is the Earth’s largest rubbish dump - nicknamed the “North Pacific Gyre”, and it contains millions of tonnes of rubbish.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 4 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the global impact of marine litter Timing: 30 seconds What you can say: But it is not just a problem in the Pacific. Gyres are vast, rotating currents in our oceans, that allow debris, particularly plastics, to get stuck in this swirling vortex where they break down into smaller and smaller fragments, known as “microplastics” There are five main gyres across the globe and each one is known to trap debris that will stay there for hundreds of years. Our oceans are the world’s sinks for plastic particles and they are fast becoming a “plastic soup”.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 5 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the global impact of marine litter Timing: 30 seconds What you can say: This is having a massive affect on our seas. In some areas, microscopic plastics have been found to be six times the concentration of zooplankton. Additional info: These plastic particles can enter the food chain, which could eventually affect human health. Relatively high concentrations of toxic substances have been found on the surface of plastic particles - research suggests this can have consequences for toxicological effects further up the food chain.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 6 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the impact of litter on our British shores Timing: 10 seconds What you can say: The UK receives volumes of debris via the Gulf Stream, with litter from as far away as Japan washing up on our shores.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 7 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the impact of litter on our British shores Timing: 1 minute What you can say: The answer is 2 – the general public. Almost half of the litter we find is litter that has been dropped at the beach, or washed down rivers and blown by winds from inland.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 8 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce what MCS is doing to combat beach litter Timing: A few seconds What you can say: MCS is working hard so that this isn’t our future!

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 9 out of 18. Purpose: To show how your audience can help tackle beach litter Timing: 35 seconds What you can say: But the charity can only do this with the help of people like you. By involving thousands of volunteers in cleaning and surveying litter on our beaches, Beachwatch provides MCS with powerful evidence to influence government, industry and the public in tackling the sources of beach litter. Additional info: Over the past 20 years, over 100,000 volunteers have surveyed over 4,800km of UK beaches collecting nearly 6 million litter items – making it the biggest and most influential project in the fight against beach litter in the UK. Ahead of your talk, get in touch with your Volunteer Coordinator to see which beaches in the area need cleaning.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 10 out of 18. Purpose: Transition slide

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 11 out of 18. Purpose: To show how your audience can help tackle beach litter Timing: 20 seconds What you can say: Carrying out a Beachwatch survey is simple – with the help of friends and volunteers, you collect litter from 100metres of beach, record what you find, and input the results directly into Beachwatch online. Or alternatively – send your results to MCS in the post.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 12 out of 18. Purpose: To show how your audience can help tackle beach litter Timing: 15 seconds What you can say: Beachwatch Big Weekend takes places every year during the third weekend of September, as well as seasonal beach cleans throughout the year. It is something that anyone can get involved in.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 13 out of 18. Purpose: To show how your audience can help tackle beach litter Timing: A few seconds What you can say: It takes just two hours to go from this… to this… Additional notes: If asked – the second photo has been edited.

Image: Michael Orourke Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 14 out of 18. Purpose: Timing: 30 seconds What you can say: At the moment, the charity is targeting angling and balloon litter as Beachwatch data has shown massive increases in these litter items on our beaches. The charity is also tackling microplastics, which believe it or not, can be found in many beauty products. These are campaigns that the public can get involved in too – pick up a leaflet for more information before you leave. Additional info: Lost or discarded fishing gear is one of the most hazardous forms of litter for seabirds, seals, dolphins, turtles and other marine life and underwater habitats. Like plastic bags, balloons are mistaken for food by many species of marine wildlife, especially turtles. Once balloons have been eaten they can block digestive systems and cause animals to starve. MCS Beachwatch surveys show that balloon litter levels have tripled on UK beaches since 1996

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 15 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the problems of plastic bags Timing: 15 seconds What you can say: Plastic bags are the ultimate symbol of our throwaway lifestyles. Worldwide we use 500 billion plastic bags each year. That’s almost a million a minute.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 16 out of 18. Purpose: To highlight MCS achievements in tackling plastic bags Timing: 25 seconds What you can say: MCS provided evidence that helped persuade the Welsh Government to introduce a single use bag levy resulting in a 96% drop in their use. Northern Ireland followed suit and Scotland has committed to a levy in 2014. The charity is now part of the campaign for England to “Break the Bag Habit!”- a levy in England is likely in 2015.

Section 3: Pollution. Total time 4 minutes. Slide 18 out of 18. Purpose: To introduce the Good Beach Guide Timing: 20 seconds. What you can say: The charity also highlights the best and worst water quality standards at UK beaches through the online Good Beach Guide. By recommending beaches with excellent water quality for bathing, MCS has been able to encourage investment in improved sewage treatment.