Deep Dive

The recommended ways to obtain litter for the analysis are:

1.Collect the litter yourself
By collecting the litter yourself, you can better control where it comes from and the cleanliness of the beach after the clean-up. Take measures to limit damage to the environment. Avoid cleaning at times of the year when species are particularly vulnerable, for example hatching periods. Evaluate the damage to habitat of removing litter in cases where the litter is integrated in the environment. For example, if a fishing net is entangled in vulnerable vegetation, it might be best to leave it there.

2.Team up with beach cleaners
Cooperating with beach cleaners reduces the cost of collection and can give you more litter for analysis. If you communicate effectively with the beach cleaners, you can secure good information about the litter and the site it came from.

3.Collaborate with waste management companies that receive beach litter.
Accessing the litter from waste management facilities or other collection points can be cost-effective and provide large amounts of litter for analysis for a larger region, but this gives you little control over the exact location and the cleanliness after clean-up.

The amount of litter you need for analysis depends on how much time you have available and whether you are going to do a full Deep Dive analysis or focus just on certain types of items (more on this in Deep Dive Step 3). In general, it is better to have too much rather than too little litter . The composition of the litter may also determine the time it takes to conduct the analysis. For example, if there are many identifiable containers in the sample, the analysis may take more time as you will need to investigate each item and register a number of parameters for each one.

Ensure that your litter has time to dry out before your Deep Dive analysis.

You may get this information from the regular beach cleaners and/or organisations doing or coordinating beach cleaning. You could also evaluate this based on the litter found: if there is a lot of old, degraded litter, it indicates that it has not been cleaned before.

Analysis can be conducted outdoors, but bad weather can make it difficult. Wind is a risk factor as it may blow litter items away, while rain can make weight measurements inaccurate. The analysis can take a few days, so make sure your site will not be disturbed while you are away or overnight.

The data collected from a stakeholder session will be qualitative, in contrast to the quantitative data collected through the main Deep Dive analysis. With more people, it is good to divide the group into smaller teams with a responsibility for different litter categories.

Hazardous items include needles, syringes, glass, medical waste, explosives, items containing chemicals, and heavy items. If you are unsure whether it is safe to handle an item, leave it where it is and, if appropriate, contact local authorities (for example, if you suspect that an item is explosive or contains dangerous chemicals).

The Deep Dive project leader is responsible for risk assessment, providing adequate safety instructions to the participants, and having a first aid kit available during the Deep Dive

Each participant will need to wear gloves and appropriate clothing for handling waste (closed shoes, protective workwear appropriate for the temperature you will be operating at). Dust masks are recommended.

You should have the following items for the Deep Dive:

Five tarpaulins for each weight category (1.5m x 1.8 m) and/or large plastic bags
Ziploc bags
Hand-held scale
Duct tape
Knife with serrated edges for cutting rope, for example
Markers or pens
Notebook
Post-it notes
Camera (smartphone camera is sufficient)
First-aid kit
Laptop or tablet if you plan to submit the data to the Deep Dive data portal during analysis
Registration forms and clipboards if you plan to input data to Deep Dive data portal later
Registration forms and clipboards if you plan to input data to Deep Dive data portal later