Return To Offender - Address Known!

23rd April 2006

A surfer inspired new anti-beach litter campaign launched at the O'Neill Highland Open WQS Surf Contest.

Return To Offender is a radical new Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) anti-beach litter campaign, supported by O'Neill. The Return To Offender campaign will be launched on the opening day of the O'Neill Highland Open international surf contest in Thurso - the first truly international surf contest to be held in Scotland.

PHOTOCALL: Tuesday 25th April at 11am at the contest site by Thurso reef. SAS campaigners and O'Neill pro surfers will temporarily stop competing to contact companies whose litter has been found by SAS campaigners polluting the local beaches. Surfers from as far away as the USA, Australia and Brazil will join UK surfers in making a mass mobile phone-in from the beach to those companies identified from the litter collected. The pro surfers and SAS campaigners will be calling on these companies to step up 'the anti-littering' message on their products, to look at using less harmful packaging to ensure products can be broken down naturally without putting wildlife at risk and to promote recycling and/or reuse wherever appropriate. In addition to the phone-in offending litter items will be posted back to the companies head offices.

Recent research from the Marine Conservation Society's 2005 Beachwatch survey found 1,981 pieces of beach litter for every 1km of beach surveyed in the UK.

• Over 70% of all beach litter is plastics.
  
• A plastic bottle can take over 450 years to break down in the beach environment.
  
• Beach litter kills over 100,000 beach mammals and sea birds annually through indigestion, suffocation or entanglement.

Andy Cummins SAS campaigner says: "The Return To Offender campaign is our chance to show the manufacturers of this rubbish that we do not accept the ocean and the beach as a dumping ground for their rubbish! They can and must take every possible step to stop their products from littering the world's coastline however remote".

Sam Lamiroy O'Neill professional surfer says: "I love the idea behind this campaign, it does exactly what it say on the tin. O'Neill have picked a great venue for this contest, the rugged, virtually empty North coast of Scotland. It's a pristine environment, but even here we don't have to look far before the sand and the rocks are broken up by a variety of litter. That's the extent of the problem- it's so far out of control! I am glad that SAS have given us this campaigning opportunity to go head to head with those responsible for the litter."

For more information please contact Andy Cummins or Richard Hardy on Tel: 01872 555950/1 or Mob: 07711 767548.

Beach cleans have been held by Thurso Surf Club, Rotary Club and SAS over the past few days to remove litter from local beaches.

The Marine Conservation Society's Beachwatch survey takes part over the third weekend in September every year.
http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk

O'Neill's support with this campaign has helped them become an SAS silver sponsor.
http://www.oneilleurope.com

Check out the 2005/2006 Surfers Against Sewage campaign film at: http://www.avthree.co.uk/sascampaigns.htm

The film covers all our campaign topics and includes footage from recent actions.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS)
Wheal Kitty Workshops
St Agnes
Cornwall
TR5 0RD
Tel: 01872 555950 (campaign office)
http://www.sas.org.uk