Volunteers to take part in biggest ever Thames ‘Plasticblitz’ - Thames 21
Volunteers will take part in the biggest ever community group plastic clean-up of the River Thames and its tributaries over the space of a month in an event called the ‘Plasticblitz’, which is being organised by environmental charity Thames21 for the second year running.
Thames21 will also team up with community organisation Rotary in the Thames Valley to lead a total of 40 groups to clear litter from these rivers and their banks from areas spanning from Gloucestershire to Rainham during this month.
These teams will be asked to record the data on the types of plastic litter they find in order gather evidence to help gain a better picture of the types of litter entering the Thames.
This data will feed into an EU-wide ‘Preventing Plastic Pollution’ project, which aims to understand and reduce the impacts of plastic pollution in river and marine environments via behaviour change, targeting hotspots and finding effective solutions.
Last year, groups filled 139 bin bags of plastic pollution gathered from the Thames, including a floating fake crocodile head, a large paddling pool and model R2D2. A total of 6,557 items of waste were removed from rivers and riverbanks; 72% of this waste was made of plastic. The worst offenders were drinks cans (941), plastic drinks bottles (819), cigarette stubs (616) and crisp packets (533).
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Posted On: 16/09/2022