A few weeks ago, Gareth Davies, Project Officer for Cardiff’s Keep Wales Tidy branch, posted online some photos of plastic pollution along the banks of the Rumney River that were, to be frank, pretty shocking.
People may think that plastic pollution is a problem that affects other areas, but not South Wales, right? WRONG! These photos show how close to home the problem is and how we all have to get behind any attempts to tackle the problem. Theses are photos of the banks of the Runmey River, which is just around the corner from Splott. Usually a lovely place for a nice, relaxing walk, maybe with the family or the dog, this peaceful patch of nature has been blighted by thrown-away plastics and other polluting items.
This calls to mind lobbying for better recycling schemes, deposit and return schemes, more refill points around town where you can top up your water bottle and a massive public turnaround against the throw-away plastic industry.
These things are important; very important. But these are long-term solutions that will take time to materialise. There is something you can do in the immediate future if these photographs upset you as much as they did me.
Keep Wales Tidy, Love Where you Live Cardiff, Cardiff Rivers Group and Cardiff Council have organised two clean-up events on the bank of the Rumney River this weekend that you can go along to and lend a much-needed hand to bring this natural beauty spot back to its natural, plastic-free state.
Here are the details:
Friday, 2nd March 13:30 – 15:30 – This is the first of two sessions on the banks of the river Rumney. They will be meeting by the gates at the bottom end of Lamby Way car park (at the civic amenity site) and walking to the first site. The tide has brought in a huge amount of single use plastics which they would like to litterpick before it is washed back to sea. Unfortunately, no primary school age children will be able to join in on this occasion. For more information, click here
What it should look like
Sunday, 4th March 09:45 – 12:00 – Meeting point Lamby Way car park, for more details click here
The Rumney River is tidal, so the litter washed up on its banks didn’t necessarily come from the geographical area around it – it could have come from anywhere down or up river.
Gareth Davies, Project Officer for Cardiff, Keep Wales Tidy sad:
“In partnership with Love Where you Live Cardiff, Cardiff Rivers Group and Cardiff Council we will be tackling the shocking amount of single use plastics that have been washed up onto the banks of the river Rumney. It is essential that we try and collect as much of the plastic as we can otherwise it will be washed back to the sea with the next high tide. We are fortunate to have so many amazing volunteers here in Cardiff and we are very much looking forward to making a difference to our riverine and seas. If you are available for one or both events please tag along as we would lick to recycle as much of the plastic as possible”
Fingers crossed for an excellent turnout that makes a real difference to this lovely spot that’s right on our doorstep.