Please call Neil Sinden on 07496 805354 for further information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 London’s Bow Back Rivers get a ‘Green Clean’

The London branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is working with volunteers in east London as part of a nationwide clean-up of our precious green spaces this September In anticipation of the introduction of deposit return system for drinks containers.

Environmental campaigners CPRE London are delighted to be working with local volunteers to clean up litter hotspots around the Bow Back and Lea Rivers near the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Sunday 23 September [1].    The event is part of a nationwide Green Clean initiative which will highlight the huge volume of bottles and cans that litter many of our most precious green spaces.

Neil Sinden from CPRE London [2] said:

‘Drink-related litter is a major problem in London. It’s great to have the opportunity to take part in this nationwide campaign to draw attention to the impact of discarded drinks containers which detract so much from the beauty and enjoyment of green spaces and waterways across the capital.   We are grateful for all the volunteers participating in this litter-pick which we hope will be one of the last to reveal the extent of this problem.’

Charles Dean from the Friends of Bow Back Rivers said:

‘We are very pleased to work in partnership with CPRE and local volunteers on this litter pick. As a local community group we want to improve the quality of the environment along these important London waterways for the benefit of those who live by, work near or use the river systems for recreation. Events like this have a double benefit - cleaning up heavily littered areas and raising awareness of the need to tackle plastic waste pollution.’

London’s Deputy Mayor for Environment & Energy, Shirley Rodrigues said: 

‘The Mayor is determined to help make London one of the greenest cities on the planet and cleaning up and maintaining our green spaces is vitally important. At City Hall we are committed to reducing needless plastic waste which can end up littering our parks and rivers. I want to thank CPRE and all the hard working volunteers who are helping out on ‘Green Cleans’ across London.’

After 10 years of campaigning, the Government announcement that England is to have a deposit return system earlier this year was a huge environmental win for CPRE in its fight against bottles and cans which litter green spaces in town and country [3]. Similar systems around the world boost recycle rates as high as 97% [4].

Yet while we wait for the scheme to be put in place, England’s green spaces remain awash with empty bottles and cans, causing serious harm to our natural environment and wildlife. So throughout September CPRE is mobilising its network to encourage litter pickers to clear up our green spaces as part of its nationwide ‘Green Clean’. The aim is to collect as much rubbish as possible, and experience the green spaces we all want to see, before we have a deposit system that will prevent them from becoming littered with cans and bottles ever again.

As well as collecting litter, CPRE Green Cleaners will record the quantity and type of litter they find. The information recorded will help deliver innovative solutions to England’s litter problem by increasing recycling and changing behaviours to reduce litter levels further.

Maddy Haughton-Boakes, CPRE’s National Litter Campaigner said:

‘Our nationwide Green Clean will help prepare our green spaces for the introduction of a deposit return system, transforming them back to a beautiful, litter-free state. So long as the deposit system that the Government introduces is set up to collect all drinks containers – all materials of all sizes – this harmful littered eyesore could soon be a thing of the past.

‘We want everyone across the country to get out and get involved. Through the collective effort of local people and communities, who either live in or simply love our green spaces, we can banish bottles and cans from our parks, fields, footpaths and hedgerows for good.’

ENDS

Notes to Editors/Picture Editors:

1. CPRE London’s Green Clean of Bow Back Rivers in east London takes place between 9.30am and 12.30pm on Sunday 23 September.   Volunteers will meet at the Viewtube on the Greenway, Marshgate Lane, E15 2JP before tackling litter hotspots along nearby waterways.   There will be a photocall opportunities at the start and end of the litter pick – contact Neil Sinden on 07496 805354 for details. We are grateful for the support of Thames Water, LB of Newham, Poplar HARCA, Viewtube Café, Dot Dot Dot, the Canal and River Trust, and the Mayor’s Office in running this event.

1. CPRE London www.cprelondon.org.uk is a membership-based charity with 2,500 members around London. We are London’s leading environment charity protecting green spaces and making the city a better place for everyone. We are a branch of the national environmental charity, the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

1. CPRE delighted by deposit return announcement
   On 23 March 2018, the Government announced it would be introducing a nationwide deposit return system for plastic and glass bottles, as well as aluminium cans. This will help boost recycling rates and combat the plague of litter blighting green spaces.

1. Deposit return – the past becomes the future

For countries such as Norway and Germany that already have a system in place, littered bottles and cans are a rare sight, as the deposit system means that they have a monetary value and people either want to return them to collect their deposit or pick up those containers discarded by others to collect those deposits. Many other countries and provinces around the world have found a deposit return system to be the best way to capture drinks containers, and there have been similar initiatives for glass bottles in England some years back. Due to the monetary incentive, such schemes have return rates of between 70-98.5%, with an associated reduction in other container litter of up to 80%.