Canal & River Trust calls on public to stop plastic being washed out to sea

The Canal & River Trust is calling on people across England & Wales to help stop half a million pieces of plastic reaching the ocean by taking its Plastics Challenge this month.

The charity, which usually relies heavily on its army of volunteers to help clear the waterways of plastic and litter, has had to put volunteering activity on hold since mid-March due to coronavirus. At the same time, some areas have seen an increase in the number of people using their nearby towpath and the litter and plastic they bring with them.

Since the launch of its Plastics Challenge last spring until March this year, volunteers had given more than 10,000 hours a month to tackle the problem, and a survey showed that plastics and litter in and around the Trust’s waterways had dropped by 30% since last year. However, it is now feared that much of those environmental gains could have been lost during the coronavirus lockdown period.

Litter pickers in Birmingham

“Our canals are great on-the-doorstep places for people to enjoy, however the unintended consequence is that they can be highways to the ocean taking 500,000 pieces of carelessly discarded plastic along our waterways and out to sea each year,” says Peter Birch, national environmental policy advisor at the Trust.

“Thanks to the efforts of individual visitors, local communities and volunteers, we had seen great gains prior to lockdown, however this trend could have reversed as our volunteers have been required to stay away and the use of towpaths has increased in many urban residential areas as people have enjoyed using towpaths for their daily exercise.”

Every year 14 million pieces of plastic end up in and around canals and rivers, and these plastic bottles, food wrappers, bags and straws can be harmful for the fish, swans, ducks and birds that make the canals their home. It’s an ongoing issue and one that the charity’s volunteers help to keep on top of.

The trust is asking visitors to carry out a short litter pick while enjoying some exercise at their local canal or river while wearing gloves or using a litter picker and taking home the collected litter.