Ben Fogle kicks off UK’s largest clean-up operation with Mindful Chef

September 2021 // Mindful Chef, the UK’s favourite healthy recipe box service (source: Trustpilot), is pleased to announce that it has partnered with UN Patron of the Wilderness Ben Fogle for its third annual Coast Clean, taking place 17th-19th September 2021.  Sign-ups are now open via the Mindful Chef website.

Mindful Chef is calling on the British public to take part in this nationwide outdoor clean up, to reach its 2021 target of 75,000 litres of plastic being cleared up across the weekend, the equivalent of approximately 150,000 plastic bottles, making it one of the UK’s largest clean up operations.  Participants are encouraged to sign up as a ‘local hero’ via the Mindful Chef website – each participant will receive a volunteer pack in the post ahead of the event, with everything needed to get involved. From families or groups of friends to corporate teams, the event promises a rewarding day out and the opportunity to do something good for the environment.

Now in its third year, Mindful Chef is partnering with The Marine Conservation Society as part of the Great British Beach clean, and has ambitions to make this years’ event the biggest one yet, expanding the operation to include beaches, parks, rivers and woodlands. Raising awareness of safe plastic disposal is more important than ever: littering of single-use plastic during Covid-19 has skyrocketed, with 70% of inland litter picks finding PPE in 2020 and face masks/gloves found on 30% of the beaches cleaned by MCS volunteers.

Large-scale clean up operations serve as an opportunity to collect invaluable data on which waste items frequently wash up on our shores. This data can support campaigns for legislation to be put in place to tackle the most harmful waste issues. Recent findings include a 55% drop in plastic bags found on UK beaches since the 5p charge was introduced.

Ben Fogle comments: “Lots of people rediscovered the joy of the great outdoors during the lockdowns. This is an opportunity to give back to all of those places – beaches, woodlands, rivers, fields or even your local park. It’s our responsibility to look after our planet, which is why I’m supporting Mindful Chef in this mass clean up effort. I’ll be litter picking around my local area and joining the Mindful Chef team in Battersea for their own clean up on 15th September. I urge anyone who is able to, to sign up on the Mindful Chef website!”

Myles Hopper, Co-Founder and Chief Community Officer at Mindful Chef: “As a proud B Corp, we are always looking for ways to use the power of our business as a force for good, taking care of our planet for now and the future. The annual Mindful Chef Coast Clean is just one of the ways we’re striving to meet our environmental goals and we are thrilled to be taking it a step further this year by expanding the initiative to clean up parks, rivers and woodlands.”

To sign up to #MCCoastClean, visit: www.mindfulchef.com/coastclean