Keep Britain Tidy and Lidl UK unveil a unique artwork depicting the damage urban litter causes to our beaches and treasured marine wildlife, as part of a new campaign #Street2Sea aimed at young people. As a new survey demonstrates that young people hold themselves primarily responsible for littering, Keep Britain Tidy, supported by Lidl UK, joins forces with pioneering ‘clean art’ specialist ‘Moose’ (aka Paul Curtis) to raise awareness of how urban litter finds its way into our waterways and causes harm to the nation’s marine life and animals Over the course of a few days, Moose brought the ocean with some of the most loved and recognisable creatures - fish, turtles and seabirds - into the heart of one of the capital’s busiest location, the world famous King’s Cross Railway Station. In a world first, Moose has used observations of members of the public dropping litter in the street and recreated the rubbish within the image, systematically destroying the artwork and obliterating the marine wildlife, in a dramatic representation of the impact that litter has in the marine environment. With 80% of marine litter originating from land and more than 2 million pieces of litter dropped on our streets every day, littering remains a significant and growing environmental issue within the UK. Keep Britain Tidy and Lidl UK want the eye-catching installation to draw young people’s attention to the fact that littering is not in fact a victimless crime. Every year numerous reports of marine wildlife injured or killed by litter are recorded. Our native marine wildlife including fish, seabirds, turtles and seals are all at risk with research showing that almost 700 species have been recorded coming into contact with man-made litter and debris, 17% of which are threatened or critically endangered. With statistics showing that up to 90% of seabirds and 60% of turtles have plastic in their stomachs causing death and injury, it’s clear that desperate action is required.

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