Tackling marine litter is the focus of environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful’s  Week of Action will be taking place later this month.

As part of the charity’s Upstream Battle® campaign, which aims to tackle litter on land before it enters our waterways, the Week of Action takes place from 20 to 28 January and encourages the public to address the issue in their local rivers and streams.

Events are already confirmed across the length of the country, including Inverness, Dumfries, Stirling and Glasgow, as Keep Scotland Beautiful aims to tackle the issue at a national level.

Participants will also be encouraged to undertake a marine litter survey that will contribute to a national data set for Scotland, and work on addressing the problem at its cause.

The Week of Action follows the publication of two reports by Keep Scotland Beautiful in December last year, exploring the public’s perception of litter and its environmental impact, which found that 90% of people believe that litter is an issue across the country.

Single-use e-cigarettes and vapes are observed to be increasing at a faster rate than any other type of litter.

Barry Fisher, Chief Executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said:

“There is a litter emergency in Scotland, and this is causing damage to our rivers and seas.

“With 80% of marine litter coming from land, we need to take action now to address this issue and protect our waters.

“Our Upstream Battle® campaign focuses on tackling litter and littering behaviour to prevent marine litter at source. By taking part in our Week of Action and conducting a marine litter survey, you can play a crucial part in tackling marine litter.”

Litter survey and pick events are happening across Scotland throughout the week, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, North Ayrshire, Inverness and more, with further events to be confirmed.

Visit Keep Scotland Beautiful to see all the events for more information about getting involved in the Week of Action.