2. The client:
Overview of the client.
Surfers Against Sewage is a non-profit organization of all ages that is dedicated to
keeping British coastlines clean, healthy and free of man-made waste. The group
was formed in 1990 by a group of passionate surfers to combat environmental
issues after becoming fed up of the decreasing quality of beaches in their native
Cornwall. The group tackles issues that affect beaches and coasts in the UK with
help from volunteers and paying members from around the country. Their
campaigns are primarily based around the dangers that certain types of waste
pose to aquatic and marine life, such as fish and birds getting caught in netting or
choking on discarded plastic and rubber after mistaking it for food. SAS is funded
through membership subscriptions, donations, sale of branded merchandise,
fundraising events and sponsorship of their projects. Some of their goals are to
eliminate chemical dumping into the sea, reduce the amount of man-made waste
found on beaches, and improve water quality in the most chronically affected
areas in the UK. SAS members are not paid to do what they do and as such, all
their events and operations are entirely voluntary, such as organized beach
cleanups or community fundraisers. In addition to this, the organizations seeks to
have their environmental footprint be as small as possible when conducting their
activities, which they do by minimizing vehicle-based transport and energy usage,
and when energy must be used, they make sure it is supplied by a sustainable and
reliable supplier.
3. The issues:
The primary issues that SAS campaigns for includes the promotion of higher
standards for UK beaches and coastlines and the protection of marine wildlife
from the dangers of dumped sewage and man-made litter such as plastic, glass,
netting, chemicals and toxic waste. The organization also seeks to educate the
general public on the dangers that these waste products pose to marine
ecosystems. One of the charity’s more recent victories in their campaigning was
the decision by the Environment Agency to begin UV screening in sewage in order
to protect bathers from certain pathogens. Another victory for the charity, which
happened in 2009, was the introduction of the British Plastic Federation (BPF)’s
Operation Clean Sweep manual, which is aimed at improving efficiency in plastic
factories by making sure that workers realise the impact that plastic pellets
(‘mermaid’s tears’) have on the environment. The guide had new guidelines that
meant that more precautions were taken to ensure that the pellets were not
getting into water supplies and drains, and instead being used for normal plastic
production thanks to the fact that every pellet lost meant lost profit for the
company. This was a particularly significant victory for the group thanks to the
problem of said pellets - most plastics remain in the sea for thousands of years as
they do not biodegrade. In 2009, the Scottish government passed the Marine Bill
following extensive lobbying by SAS, which provided new measures regarding the
wellbeing and conservation of Scotland’s seas by giving new powers to councils
and overhauling fishing licenses and coastal development.
4. The issues:
In 2013, SAS broke the unofficial record for the highest amount of beach cleanup volunteers with
314, which was thanks to their increased membership numbers. Looking towards the future, SAS is
hoping to draw more people to their cause with rigorous advertising, fundraising and campaigning
to let more people know about the problems that coastlines in the UK face. The long term goal of
the charity is to ensure that the UK’s beaches are respected and valued, lacking sewage and waste
for all to enjoy. SAS also campaigns for improvements in shipping and chemical distribution in
order to ensure that spillages are reduced, and in the event of one, they are dealt with quickly
and with minimal damage to the environment. Water quality is their top concern thanks to the
increase in sewage found in the seas thanks to 31,000 sewer overflows. SAS hopes to change this
for the better with a new law that requires overflows to be treated before being pumped into the
sea. The SAS has identified several different waste products that are the most common things
found on polluted beaches. These include cigarette butts, plastic bottles, metal cans, plastic
bags, fishing nets and scrap metal. The charity has tried to combat this with their Return to
Offender campaign, which involves the charity sending frequently found waste products back to
their original manufacturers. For example, when several shipping containers fell of a freighter in
2008, thousands of Baxters medical saline packs washed up on British coasts, posing a danger to
both wildlife and people. Charity members collected several of these packets and sent them back
to the Baxters headquarters in the Netherlands, who promptly disposed of them. SAS believes that
public knowledge regarding marine litter can be improved by increasing public awareness and
contacting local MPS to suggest possible new laws to protect bathers and the environment itself,
as none currently exist in the UK. The charity has an extensive advertising and marketing
campaign that is designed to educate the public about certain issues and provide them with an
outlet where they can do their bit to help.
5. Facts and figures:
A plastic bottle left adrift in the sea may take more than 450 years to fully decompose, 4.5
trillion cigarette butts are dropped every year in the country, and approximately 8 million
pieces of marine litter enter the sea every day. To combat this, £18 million is spent annually
to clean up beaches and marine areas. Surfers Against Sewage is a member of the Stop
Climate Chaos Coalition (SCC), the largest group of people in the UK who are dedicated to
battling environmental and climate issues. This groups reaches an audience of over 11
million people linked to action and support groups. One of the SAS’s main issues is to tackle
the abundance of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) of which there are 31,000 around the
UK. These are used to discharge untreated sewage when their containment systems are
close to bursting as a way to avoid leakages. However, SAS has evidence that these sewer
overflows are being used to regularly dump waste, rather than being used for an emergency
situation like they were designed for. In terms of the sewers themselves, there are more
than 250,000 sewer blockages every year caused by fat and grease clogging up the pipes.
One of the primary campaigns of Surfers Against Sewage is Protect Our Waves, which
comprises of the charity’s efforts to protect prime surfing locations in the UK and ensure
that famed surf spots and conditions for prime waves and protected and preserved for
future generations to enjoy. In October 2013 SAS and double Brit Award winner Ben Howard
delivered a petition of 55,000 signatures to Downing Street, which called for increased
protection of UK surfing spots and recognition of the sewage and litter on coastlines as a
serious threat to the wellbeing of the surfing industry. This was highlighted by the charity’s
economic survey that revealed that surfing contributed £1.8 billion to the British economy.
