Barrat Homes and specialist civils provider Wrekin Products have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the damage that litter causes to waterways, lakes and oceans.
‘The Sea Starts Here’ initiative features gully grates painted in bright blue at a Barratt development in Macclesfield.
The campaign aims to inform people about the lasting environmental damage that small pieces of litter can have. The ripple effects of excess nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen result in damage to freshwater habitats, and can kill the fish population in some cases.
The 2022 government’s Environmental Audit Committee found that housing developments’ drainage systems, which are clogged with “a profusion of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste”, in addition to heavy rainfall, often lead to overloaded sewerage systems that cannot cope effectively.
Independent environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy estimates that the UK discards 30 million tonnes of litter annually, resulting in a cleanup cost of £1bn.
Nearly half of this litter (14 million tonnes) ends up contaminating rivers and canals, according to the Canal & River Trust. This ongoing damage has led to a situation where none of the UK’s waterways are currently classified as being in ‘good health’.
Simon Turner, commercial director at Wrekin Products, said: “We hope this campaign will go some way to increasing awareness about the interconnectedness of our infrastructure and the problems and effects of water pollution on our marine wildlife.
“We’re using our position as an opportunity to create a positive environmental impact by reminding people that there is a correct place for litter to go, and it’s not down our drains.”
Comments
Comments are closed.
I think this is a tremendous initiative as people put all sorts of substances down storm drains that they do not wish to place in their foul sewer. I will forward details of this to our new MP who, as part of their election manifesto, indicated cleaning up water ways.