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Turning the Tide
in Bournemouth,
Christchurch and Poole

City to Sea has teamed up with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to make a real splash on the south coast!

The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area is one of the UK’s most popular stretches of coast. With 15 miles of beaches, it is home to around 400,000 residents and welcomes 13 million visitors each year. Awarded more Blue Flags than any other UK local authority, BCP Council currently spends £1 million per year removing waste from its beaches.

On average in the UK, 425 littered items of plastic are found on every 100m of beach, a huge issue for councils when it comes to waste removal. We estimate that if just 1 in 10 residents of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole refilled a water bottle just once a week, over a million plastic bottles a year would be saved.

So, we’re working with BCP Council to create a wave of change, helping them to developing a more sustainable approach at the seafront and create a low impact tourist destination.

Our first of its kind report

We’ve launched a new report today, commissioned by BCP Council as an investment into their seafront. The first of its kind report sets out ambitious plans for the Council to reduce single-use plastic on its beaches, embedding our award-winning Refill campaign and implementing systems of refill and reuse.

The report also outlines proposals for a new £2.4million Durley Environmental Innovation Hub, funded by the Coastal Communities Fund, that will be a thriving, revenue-generating and accessible venue that models environmentally positive behaviour and systems. The venue will have a new dedicated learning space for residents and visitors to drive behaviour change, connecting people’s actions to the oceans and build environmental guardianship. The Hub will serve as a showcase for BCP Council’s development as a low impact destination, where refill and reuse replace single-use, and will feature a new catering kiosk that will trial innovative ways of working.

Creating a wave of change for future generations

A key part of the three-year plan involves developing a ‘Seaside School’ education programme that will be run from the Envirohub, providing an education resource for schools and families.

We’re excited to be working closely with BCP Council to turn the tide on single-use plastic and with local residents who will be trialling innovative new products and systems. Our project will enable a transformative move away from throw away single-use habits to establish circular and sustainable refill and reuse behaviours.

Together, we can transform the area so that the next generation of residents can enjoy a coastline teaming with sea life not single-use waste.

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