Sunday blitz on river rubbish

VOLUNTEERS carried out a “plastic blitz” in and around the river in Henley on Sunday.

They collected 11 bags of rubbish during the four-hour operation, which was organised by Henley Rotary Club for the third year running with support from Thames 21, which campaigns for clean rivers, and the Environment Agency.

It was part of a co-ordinated effort by 12 Rotary clubs cleaning up their sections of the Thames from Windsor to Oxford.

Henley Rotarians and residents met up in Mill Meadows armed with litter-pickers, high-visibility vests and bin bags and formed teams to tackle different sections of the river.

Ann Tully, who lives on Rod Eyot, was out in her boat and collected two full bags of rubbish from the water.

Phil Fletcher, secretary of the club, said: “It was a slow start and the impression was that there was not as much rubbish to be found as last year.

“Then Ann turned up in her boat with a bag of particularly horrible rubbish. She then went out again with a friend and they collected a huge bag of rubbish. That will stop it being washed back into the river.

“Sue and Ian Pankhurst, who helped last year, again turned up to volunteer. Dennis Craggs and another member of the Phyllis Court Club kayak section collected several bags from the river, ploughing into the reeds to access it.

“Our club president Craig Wilson and member Jeremy Gaunt cleared the area around the station and car park.

“George Argyropoulos, from the Rotary Club of Reading Thames, and his daughter made a valuable effort clearing Mill Meadows itself, particularly around the pavilion and children’s playground.

“I was particularly pleased that we were able to clear rubbish from the river as that is the name of the game. The idea is to clean up rubbish from source to sea.

“Over time plastic breaks down into tiny plastic fragments which enter the food chain and threaten wildlife. There is not much we can do about the microplastics already there. We can only make people more aware of what happens when they dump plastic in rivers.

“A number of people stopped to talk to us, including children. I had fun asking them how long it takes plastic to decompose completely — 400 years is the answer.

“The strangest item found perhaps goes to the thousand or so 1cm2 square pieces of silver plastic which Barbara Fletcher patiently picked up, we think from a helium party balloon.

“That’s instant microplastic, which should be banned.”

The rubbish was laid out on the ground and recorded to see what people are discarding.

Mr Fletcher said: “We will be able to do a survey of what rubbish we’ve collected in a specific area and that will go into a Europe-wide survey. It will provide data so we can tackle big companies about changing their packaging.”

Volunteer Jane Bertelli, a Rotarian, said: “It’s important we come out and clean because litter is bad for the environment, particularly the plastic, because it doesn’t decompose.”

Fellow Rotarian David Rusman said: “Picking up the litter is a job that somebody has got to do. We can’t just leave the plastic in the environment.

“I was surprised that people noticed me and thanked me.”

Mr Fletcher added: “This is exactly what Rotary is about as we are a service organisation.

“Thank you to all who helped — we have made a difference.”