PLASTIC PERIL IN WORDSWORTH LAKE
It’s one of Britain’s most majestic beauty spots. So what a damning indictment of our throwaway culture that Ullswater is now contaminated with millions of tiny pieces of plastic
PLASTIC pollution has been found in Britain’s most picturesque lakes and rivers, including poet William Wordsworth’s favourite spot in the Lake District. A study measured the amount of microplastics – pieces smaller than 5mm – in samples of water from ten beauty spots. All the lakes and rivers – no matter how remote – were found to be contaminated with plastic, laboratory tests showed. The Daily Mail has long campaigned to reduce the amount of plastic pollution and led the successful campaign to ban microbeads in cosmetics. It is now urging readers to take part in the Great British Spring Clean, in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, which will take place between March 22 and April 23. The event aims to get half a million people picking up litter in their local communities. So far, 185,878 have signed up. Lakes and rivers become confodils’ taminated when plastic rubbish blows into them and then, over time, gets broken down into smaller microparticles. Ullswater in the Lake District, which inspired Wordsworth to write his famous poem ‘Daffodils’ – which has the lines ‘I wander’d lonely as a cloud’ and describes how he spied ‘a host of golden daf3.3 – was found to contain 29.5 pieces of microplastics per litre. The worst spot for contamination was the River Tame in Greater Manchester, with 1,000 pieces of plastic per litre, followed by the River Irwell in Salford, with 84.8 pieces. The Falls of Dochart, which run through the village of Killin, in the Trossachs National Park, had pieces per litre, while Loch Lomond contained 2.4 pieces. Llyn Cefni reservoir on Anglesey in Wales had 43.2 pieces of microplastics per litre, while the River Blackwater in Essex had 15.1. Dr Christian Dunn, whose team at Bangor University carried out the research with Friends of the Earth, said: ‘It was more than a little startling to discover microplastics were present in even the most remote sites we tested and quite depressing they were in some of our country’s most iconic locations. I’m sure Wordsworth would not be happy to discover his beloved Ullswater was polluted with plastic.’ He added: ‘We have to start tak-
ing the issue of plastic in our inland waters seriously. ‘As with all emerging contaminants, we don’t yet fully know the dangers they present to wildlife and ecosystems, or even human health, and to what levels they occur in all our water systems.’ He added that further tests of rivers and lakes for plastic pollution could show that the ten areas sampled ‘are just the tip of the iceberg’. Previous research has found that between 7,000 and 19,000 tonnes of plastic from vehicle tyres enters surface waters each year. Some 150 to 2,900 tonnes comes from synthetic clothing and 1,400 to 3,700 tonnes a year comes from paints on buildings and road markings. Friends of the Earth is urging MPs to support new legislation which is currently before Parliament to phase out plastic pollution within 25 years, including an end to non-essential single-use items by 2025. Julian Kirby, the lead campaigner on plastics at Friends of the Earth, said: ‘Plastic pollution is everywhere – it’s been found in our rivers, our highest mountains and our deepest oceans. MPs must get behind new legislation that would commit the government to drastically reduce the flow of plastic pollution that’s blighting our environment.’ To sign up as a volunteer for the Great British Spring Clean, visit gbspringclean.org.
JUST as the gloom appeared to be lifting from the interminable Brexit negotiations, into the darkness we again plunged.
Britain’s latest bid to avoid being trapped eternally in the Irish backstop received a resounding ‘Non’ from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. Who’d have thought!
But why would the bloc offer concessions? Theresa May’s key bargaining chips – leaving with No Deal and not paying £39billion – have been taken off the table by Tory rebels. If only they’d held their nerve. Economic forecasts pointed – again – to the eurozone faring far worse from a messy divorce.
Another shaft of optimism was Bank of England governor Mark Carney diluting fears about the shock to Britain of a clean break. If the EU makes minor legally-binding tweaks, both sides can shake hands.
Or will the posturing ideological purists in Brussels – hoping against hope that Parliament, aided by Jeremy Corbyn, plumps for a soft Brexit – risk the livelihoods of millions just to avoid denting their super-state project? IN a troubling sign of irresponsibility, credit card companies are driving struggling consumers further into debt by imposing exorbitant charges. Cardholders who pay bills late or exceed their credit limit are hit by sky-high penalties they can’t repay. So we applaud the City watchdog for warning mega- rich firms to end the practice. Exploiting debt-laden customers is unprincipled and unacceptable. HOW deeply depressing that plastic pollution has been found at Britain’s most secluded beauty spots, including William Wordsworth’s beloved Ullswater. Every single river and lake tested by scientists was contaminated by particles of rubbish. Yet another reason to join the 185,800 Mail readers who have volunteered for the Great British Spring Clean!