My Beach, Your Beach
My Beach, Your Beach
My Beach, Your Beach
Between 2018 and 2023 the My Beach, Your Beach campaign helped people care for our beaches and bathing waters by raising awareness of actions that everyone can take to help protect the sand and sea.
See all of our My Beach, Your Beach campaign reports linked at the bottom of this page.
Campaign beaches
By 2022, #MyBeachYourBeach was active at seven popular beaches that have faced challenges with bathing water quality. Each one has its own character, history and environment. Find out more about them by clicking on the boxes below:
Enjoy the beach ... and care for the sand, sea and the local community.
Here are some key things that everyone can do to ensure that our beaches and bathing waters are clean for all to enjoy:
When visiting the beach...
Dog poo: bag it and bin it
If the bin is full, then take it away with you.
Bin your litter: or take it away with you
There is never an excuse for leaving litter for others to clean up.
Don't feed the gulls: leave them be
Attracting gulls to popular beaches by feeding them can result in them disrupting bins, ingesting litter and generally becoming a nuisance for beach goers, as well as harming the gulls themselves.
And for businesses and homes...
- Never pour fats, oils or greases down the drain
- Only flush the 3Ps: pee, poo and (toilet) paper
‘Bathing water quality’ is a measure of how clean the water is at designated beaches, depending on the amount of bacteria in the water, that in turn indicates pollution levels that could make you unwell. These bacteria come from human or animal waste, which can enter the water in a number of different ways.
During the summer bathing season, SEPA publishes daily water quality forecasts online, as well as on electronic signage at designated beaches. This is based on regular testing of water samples throughout the bathing season.
Where water quality is found to be affected, the Scottish Government and SEPA work with regulated operators and other stakeholders to identify contamination sources and carry out necessary improvement works.
However, the success of these measures also relies on people doing their part.
Our partners
This project was supported by the Scottish Government, and carried out in partnership with SEPA, South Ayrshire Council, North Ayrshire Council, City of Edinburgh Council, East Lothian Council and Fife Coast & Countryside Trust.
