A Plastic Problem: How litter gets from us to our River

According to a recent Environment Agency analysis, over 90% of rivers in the southeast of England are in poor health.

The United Kingdom is home to 85% of the world’s chalk streams, which are among some of the most environmentally unique habitats in the globe. Rivers provide two-thirds of our water sources, support agriculture, industries, energy and offer us with refuge as well as some adventure. Our freshwater ecosystems provide natural flood protection by storing water in the terrain and delaying the flow downstream although this also means a lot of rubbish gets stuck in the terrain and causes pollution. 

The southeaster River trust is a non-profit organisation that began as a small group of dedicated volunteers on the River Wandle in South London, dissatisfied with the state of the nearby chalk stream. The Southeast Rivers Trust has grown to become one of the largest regional river trusts, preserving rivers in the southeast of England for future generations.

People in Medway live close to the river, work with it frequently, and have access to boats that are docked there. The water has been polluted to a considerable extent.

The Southeast Rivers Trust sponsored the “Rochester Clean up” event on Wednesday, January 18th, where volunteers gathered litter and rubbish washed up near the riverbank. This event was a part of the Preventing Plastic Pollution project. 

This project is set to host many more of these ‘clean-up’ events throughout the year to decrease pollution in any way. 

Hannah Dry (Plastics Project Officer) and Belinda (Medway Swale Estuary Partnership) conducted a litter picking event at Temple Marsh in Rochester to eliminate plastic pollution and other litter from Medway. 

They were also able to collect data on the primary sources of plastic pollution in Medway and devise solutions to this growing problem.

Hannah Dry commented at the end of the event that “The main aims of these activities are to remove trash from environments and to engage and educate people on how horrible the plastic pollution really is since many people have become very desensitised to witnessing the garbage that is truly there. The older age group is usually the biggest demographic which we see come to these events, and I really wish to see students and the younger generation getting involved as it’s tough work but there’s no other solution”

Hannah was “massively” pleased with the event’s outcomes, which included 36 garbage bags of waste, larger rubbish like tires and even a fridge which was collected between 10 volunteers this all weighed an average of 125kg. Even after all of that picking, there was still a significant amount of rubbish left on the riverbank, highlighting why these events are so crucial.

These are some of the most interesting finds from the clean-up:

Although it may look “Funny,” it is actually quite sad that these items are being tossed into our rivers. These items have no place in our waterways. Just think of all the harm they may do to ecosystems and habitats.

This is our planet and it’s up to us to save it. 

The world will change one day, we just need to desire it strongly enough.

For more Information visit : https://www.southeastriverstrust.org