Mission: Save the Mersey!
How the Mail joined a gang of determined litter pickers as they tackled the banks of Britain’s most plastic-polluted river...
THE Great British Spring Clean is proving an unprecedented success, with almost 130,000 people signing up so far. They have pledged to carry out 5,042 litter clean-ups for the three weeks from March 20 to April 13. The Keep Britain Tidy event – backed by the Mail, which also behind the Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign – recruited more than 560,000 people in 2019. But this year we aim to smash that total and get as close to a million as possible.
ARRIVING at what should have been a bucolic riverbank scene, I found myself confronted with a revolting – and deeply shameful – sight. Shreds of green, black and white plastic bags flapped like leaves from the low-lying branches of the trees. Adorning the bank were washed-up shoes, bags of dog excrement and innumerable other items of plastic detritus.
A peek in the river proved even more horrifying – it was strewn with greying wet wipes, sanitary pads and kitchen cloths.
Happily, the beauty of this patch of the Mersey has been restored and is once again the perfect mossy perch to enjoy the water. What caused the dramatic transformation? People power – and a growing desire to make Britain tidy again.
The Mail joined litter-picking volunteers and staff from the Mersey Rivers Trust to clear rubbish near Stockport in Greater Manchester.
We made quite a difference, filling 31 bin bags from less than a mile of riverbank in two and a half hours.
Be-wellied and wearing rubber gloves, I delved into the river with dismay, helping to drag out an inflatable ring, two shopping trolleys and the bumper of a van.
I was astounded at just how full of rubbish the Mersey was.
But this is the reality of Britain’s most plastic-polluted river. Even the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating vortex of rubbish twice the size of France, has fewer pieces of plastic per square yard than the 70 miles of the Mersey.
Last year, Greenpeace researchers who held a net in the river for half an hour picked up 875 pieces.
To stop this overwhelming tide of plastic, and return our rivers to thriving ecosystems, the Mail and Keep Britain Tidy are urging readers to join the fight against trash, enlisting up to a million volunteers for the Great British Spring Clean from March 20 to April 13.
More than 500,000 volunteers took part in last year’s event – but this year we can do even better.
The litter-pickers in Stockport would be thrilled with extra support. The Mersey was named the worst of 13 major rivers tested for plastics by Greenpeace last year.
John Sanders, of the Mersey Rivers Trust, said the fight against littering was ‘a constant battle’, adding: ‘ Visible plastic is detracting from the amenity value of rivers, tends to discourage people from visiting local rivers, and gives some the impression that it is okay to litter or flytip in or next to rivers.’ Last year, his team picked up 120 traffic cones and 140 tyres, as well as, trays and even dentures.
The trust runs about five sessions a month and collected 1,000 bin bags of litter in 2019 – as well as 42 bikes and 80 shopping trolleys. It has stopped heaps of rubbish being washed around 60 miles downstream into the Irish Sea.
So why is the Mersey so polluted – and how can we stop it being filled with yet more rubbish?
SEWAGE tunnels explain the wet wipes and sanitary pads. Each year we buy 11million wet wipes – for babies, make-up, or first-aid kits. Nearly all are made of polyester.
Despite this, Britons still flush them down the loo, perhaps unaware that they add to the plastic waste threatening the oceans.
When they break down, they release tiny particles called microplastics that may contribute to the deaths of sea creatures. Fifty dolphins, seals and whales washed up on the coast last year had microplastics in their digestive systems.
But we can’t blame wet wipes alone – these particles are also released into rivers and the sea from clothes washing, driving our cars – which shed them from tyres – and fishing with nets.
Among the plastic Greenpeace found on the Mersey last year were bio-beads – tiny, pernicious pellets that filter chemical and organic contaminants from sewage in wastewater treatment plants.
Bio-beads, which are only 3.5mm wide, absorb toxic chemicals, including the banned pesticide DDT, and these pellets are often mistaken for food by birds, fish and other sea creatures.
There is evidence that insects living in riverbeds may be affected by chemicals such as DDT. In a few weeks, a healthy population of river insects will be a crucial food source for the sand martins that migrate to the river from Africa.
The Mersey is also home to otters, mink, dippers, grey herons, kingfishers, crayfish and eels – all of which rely on a delicate ecosystem easily harmed by plastic.
Larger items such as nets and plastic bags pose a problem, too. They can strangle animals from deer to seals, while whales have washed ashore with stomachs full of bags and nylon rope.
‘People have seen the rivers previously as a bit of an out-ofsight, out- of-mind dumping ground,’ said Nick Carter, as he fished out yet another wet wipe.
An ecologist and trustee of the Mersey Rivers Trust, his message
is clear: By picking up litter, we are preserving a healthy home for wildlife.
Plenty of bottles, straws and plastic bags have also been found on the Mersey. Trees on the riverbank are riddled with discoloured carrier bags.
Spongy white polystyrene balls used in packaging have been fished out of the river. This plastic – which we also use for takeaway food and drink containers – breaks up into smaller pieces that are ingested by sea creatures.
In Lancashire, many rivers flow through old tips, picking up man-made waste as they go. They also pass by derelict factories, collecting all kinds of materials and chemicals.
Some of the plastic pieces are also thought to come from modern industries. Greenpeace found nurdles – pellets used to create other plastic products – near a plant that produces them on the Mersey.
More than 80 per cent of all the plastic items the researchers recovered fell into three types – polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene.
These are the varieties most widely used for single- use packaging for our food, toiletries and online deliveries.
In addition, much of the plastic that enters the Mersey is dropped carelessly by litterers. Evidence of this is strewn across its banks. On one sandy river edge, mosses and small green weeds such as celandine jostle forlornly among strips of plastic sheeting.
A slope leading up from the water is filling with wild garlic – but the leafy floor is also dotted with bags of dog poo.
It feels as if plastic is taking over nature. Some 14million plastic items are dropped or blown into our waterways every year, according to the Canal and River Trust.
But we cannot simply give up. We must keep trying to stem the tide of plastic waste – for all our sakes. Education is key, says John Sanders of the Mersey Rivers Trust.
If children are taught about littering at schools, they will often pressure their parents into being more careful with waste. To stop microplastic pollution, campaigners say we must reinvent items that break down into these particles and learn to reuse them.
Greenpeace is also demanding swift government action. In the Environment Bill making its way through Parliament, ministers have pledged to make plastic producers more responsible for waste, introduce a deposit return scheme for bottles and cut down on single-use plastics.
Solving the plastic puzzle is a mammoth task. But I’ve seen for myself the difference just one afternoon’s work makes.
Up and down the country, our waterways are flowing with garbage. The Thames and the Aire in Yorkshire are also among the worst.
So wherever you are in the country, get out there and join the Mail’s Great British Spring Clean – and let’s make our rivers sparkle again.