Million Mile Beach Clean

Client: Surfers Against Sewage

In March 2021, ocean conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage launched the Million Mile Beach Clean - the most ambitious plastic clean-up campaign ever attempted. As the country emerged from a dark winter and multiple lockdowns, the goal was to harness the British public’s renewed enthusiasm for nature and galvanise 100,000 volunteers to clean 10 miles of blue or green space, resulting in one million miles cleared by the end of the year.

Greenhouse Communications created a media campaign that put the Million Mile Beach Clean front and centre in the news agenda on the day of the launch, fulfilling our brief to position SAS as a leading voice on plastic pollution, and encouraging members of the public to take action.

New research uncovered that Brits were more likely to have seen plastic waste on their local beach than wildlife, and a 50-metre sand art installation depicting a seal surrounded by single-use plastic reminded us why that matters.

In total, the Million Mile Beach Clean campaign mobilised 142,428 volunteers at 4,216 cleans, removing 398,798 kilos of rubbish from over 1.1 million miles of coast and countryside.