LIVING RIVER FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH KEEP BRITAIN TIDY BY COLLECTING PLASTIC WASTE FROM THAMES & MEDWAY ESTUARIES TO BE RECYCLED TO CONSTRUCT LONDON MARATHON MILE MAKERS
Living River Foundation is a local not-for-profit organisation that monitors and raises awareness to protect and improve the Thames and Medway rivers. As part of their vital work in the estuaries, they organise regular litter picks to help clear the rivers of plastic and other waste. They recently partnered with Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Ocean Recovery Project’ and helped divert plastic waste from the islands of the Medway Estuary, which was added to waste collections throughout the UK, recycled and used towards the construction of the mile makers for this year’s London Marathon.
The recycled plastic was shredded and granulated and then used as part of the construction of 52 (2 per mile) 3D-printed ‘mile markers’ for the London Marathon which took place on October 2nd 2022.
The foundation with help from local businesses and its passionate and dedicated volunteers organised several waste collections across multiple Islands in the Medway Estuary. Thanks to all the hard work collecting and separating the two-tonne sacks of plastics from the non-recyclable plastic the foundation was able to add this waste to the Ocean Recovery Project collections around the UK.
Living River Foundation Founder, Tanya Ferry, commented, “We were delighted to be able to partner with and support the Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Ocean recovery project’ by contributing towards the plastic waste collection. It is great to see all of the effort put in to collect the tonnes of plastic waste that was recycled and used to produce the fantastic mile makers for the marathon
.
At Living River, we see first-hand how our rivers and estuaries are being impacted by our way of life. Estuaries are like the arteries between our rivers and the sea and they have been clogged and impacted by the continued expansion of urban areas, litter especially plastic, environmental change, invasive species, and a lack of water due to warming temperatures.
It is so important that we all do what we can to help protect them and that is why we started Living River Foundation. This is only possible thanks to all our volunteers getting out there and helping us make a real difference.”
Whether it be from plastics, sewage or litter, the Living River Foundation is raising awareness of how our way of life impacts the environment and how we can change to better our environment. The not-for-profit foundation’s work includes sampling and monitoring microplastics in the estuaries, organising regular litter picks and facilitating talks and workshops within the local community to engage and allow others to understand the issues faced by their local environment.