As the summer holidays get well under way during the hottest summer for 40 years, this newspaper is asking people to keep our beautiful coasts clean by getting involved in a beach clean.
The Big Coast Clean Up is our campaign, backed by councillors, the RSPB, the Marine Conservation Society, and wildlife TV presenter and naturalist Ajay Tegala, to keep the beaches of Norfolk and Waveney free of litter and rubbish.
Rubbish such as crisp packets, six-pack rings, and food wrappers can cause long-lasting damage to the environment and the animals which live on the coast.
Dirty beaches can reduce the reputation of the region's most stunning beauty spots, with Cromer, Hunstanton and Southwold all receiving Blue Flag status again this year, something other beaches struggle to do due to the amount of rubbish left on the sand.
As part of the campaign we are organising our own clean ups on each weekend in August, helping keep our stunning beaches in Hunstanton, Cromer, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft pristine.
Details of each clean will be released each week, with our first clean on Old Hunstanton beach this Saturday with all equipment provided by this newspaper.
In Lowestoft, we are working in partnership with the Big Blue Ocean Clean Up an ocean conservation non-profit foundation cleaning our oceans and coastlines.
Samantha Edmonds, 34 and from Lowestoft, is a voluntary ambassador for Big Blue Ocean Clean Up and inspired by Sir David Attenborough, has organised the clean.
She said: 'It would just be nice to walk along the beach and not see all the rubbish but if we teach the next generation for it to be a habit to pick up litter and take it home, that's my aim.
'It is David Attenborough who inspired me, he is a legend and anything I know about nature is through him.
'The legacy that he is going to leave behind is amazing and I just wanted to get involved as it is very close to my heart.
She added: 'I want the next generation to have a clean world. They say that in 90 years there will be more plastic than fish in the sea and I just want to do what I can.'
How to get involved
You can get involved in the Big Coast Clean Up by joining one of our beach cleans, organised on a different beach for each weekend of August with all the equipment needed provided by us.
On Saturday, August 4, come to the Old Hunstanton Cliff car park for 10.30am to join reporter Chris Bishop on our inaugural clean on Old Hunstanton Beach. Email chris.bishop@archant.co.uk for more information.
The week after, on August 11, it will be the turn of one of North Norfolk's beautiful beaches. Email stuart.anderson@archant.co.uk for more information about how to get involved.
For those on the east coast, come down to Lowestoft's North Denes on Sunday, August 19, at 10am to join the combined Big Blue Ocean Clean Up and Big Coast Clean Up opposite Lighthouse Cafe on the green. Email mark.boggis@archant.co.uk for information.
And finally, our last beach clean will be in Great Yarmouth on the weekend of August 25 and 26. Email andrew.fitchett@archant.co.uk for more information.
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