It’s time for Million Mile May

This May we are calling on Plastic Free Communities to register their community cleans with us, and submit their results for the 2023 Brand Audit. Every SAS Brand Audit completed will help us identify this year’s ‘Dirty Dozen’, so we can expose the top polluting companies in the UK. There’s also a chance to win one of 300 Hydroflasks, and the more results you submit, the higher your chance to win.

What is the Million Mile Clean?

Now the biggest initiative of its kind in the UK, the Million Mile Clean is an annual action bringing Ocean Activists together to tackle plastic pollution head on. Closely tied to the UN Decade for Ocean Science, the Million Mile Clean will run every year until 2030. The aim is to mobilise 100,000 volunteers to clean up to one million miles of UK landscape, every year.

It’s easy to join in and open to everyone, wherever you live and however much you can do.

Simply head to https://sas.org.uk/plastic-pollution/million-mile-clean/ and register your clean, remembering to tell us you are part of a Plastic Free Community. It can be a special one-off clean for Million Mile May, it could be a clean that you are already organising in your community, or it could be one of your regular community clean events that you hold on a weekly or monthly basis. You’ll receive public liability insurance, free equipment for up to 30 people and a reporting form to send us details of all the brands you find.

Last year our Plastic Free Communities where the largest SAS volunteer cohort to take part with almost 400 Brand Audits submitted. We’re looking to better that this year, and help you link up your local action to national policy change.

Help us hold plastic polluters to account

The Brand Audit is our most successful citizen science project to date. It’s a record of the brands that produce the plastic you find out and about, from cities and parks, to shorelines and mountaintops. By counting the plastic items you find whilst out on a clean, we can get an idea of the biggest offenders. The more data submitted, the more power we have to hold plastic polluters to account.

Simply tally items as you go, or sort the pollution you’ve found at the end of the clean. You’ll receive a Brand Audit reminder after your event with a link to a form to submit your results. If you hadn’t already registered your clean you can still send us your Brand Audit results,  just go online here: Submit your results – Surfers Against Sewage (sas.org.uk)

Last year, we found that 12 companies accounted for a whopping 70% of all branded plastic pollution across the UK. We call these the Dirty Dozen. Check out our 2022 Brand Audit Report for the full rundown: Brand Audit Report (2022) – Surfers Against Sewage (sas.org.uk)

Help us to challenge big business, change government legislation, and demand more is done to stop the tide of plastic pollution across our communities