Unblocktober
Action to keep the UK's waterways clean
If you've been reading my posts here, you may have realised that I spend a fair amount of time walking along rivers. I love spending time alongside the water, watching the wildlife, and you can read more about that in my recent post about Edinburgh's Water of Leith.
Not everything about rivers these days is so appealing, however. The state of our rivers these days is pretty poor. Scotland is doing better than most other parts of the UK with 57.2% of river stretches being assessed as being in good condition or better. That's more than half, but surely still not good enough?
Read about the state of the UK's rivers on the Rivers Trust website.
Why are our rivers in such a bad state? Chemical pollution, agricultural run-off and climate change all have a role in damaging our river systems. But a lot of people also unknowingly add to the problem by disposing of inappropriate items down the drains – 48% of the British public have disposed of wet wipes down the drains, while 1.8 billion cotton buds are flushed down our toilets every year. Wet wipes and cotton buds are not biodegradable, they contain plastic and should be put in your normal household waste, not dropped into the toilet bowl. Similarly, if you've used oil to fry food, then use kitchen roll to wipe up the remaining oil from the pan before washing up.
Launched in 2019, Unblocktober is the UK's month-long national campaign and awareness month to improve the health of our drains, sewers, rivers and seas. In the first year, over 4,500 people in the UK pledged to change their kitchen and bathroom habits. This rose to more than 66,000 in 2022. You can sign up here to join in this year's Unblocktober. By joining in Unblocktober (and hopefully keeping up the good habits for the rest of your life) you can keep your drains in better working order and help to prevent river and ocean pollution.
The River Action March for Clean Water will now take place on Sunday, 3 November 2024. Find out more here.
There are many ways to enjoy your local waterway. I enjoyed reading this profile of Ghost, a kayak project in Lancashire, England, which takes people along the local canal in a “free multi-sensory experience”.
Join In!
Share your views in the consultation on fisheries management near offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland.
There’s still time to take part in the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey!
Happening Soon
The Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society (The Caley) is holding its annual Apple Day event on 6 October at Edinburgh’s Saughton Park.
What I’m Reading
The Hunt for the Golden Mole by Richard Girling, a history of the human relationship with animals, focussing on the golden mole.
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Thanks for highlighting, Juliet. I don’t put anything other than human waste and some untreated loo paper down the drain. We used to,live on a farm with a bio-muncher which struggled to cope with even loo roll, sometimes. One set of neighbours were forever blocking the system with wet wipes. I think it’s the ‘out of sight is out of mind’ mentality. People just don’t think about where it goes. I like the phrase ‘there is no away’ - everything we get rid of goes somewhere….
I hope for the UK rivers that more sign on. Here in the States, our sewage systems are overwhelmed by the wet wipes. When tree roots cracked the lid on my septic tank and then clogged the pipe, the company who came to repair it had to completely clean out the tank. Placed there in the 50's it had a layer of rags (diapers maybe?) cemented at the bottom. I have lived here for 40 yrs and knew better than to flush anything but TP. The house had been a rental before we bought it. Still the cost of hooking up to the sewer was massive. When I researched it all, my decision to keep the septic tank was not only economical but environmentally sounder than the only other option, the dread sewer. I feel I have a cleaner solution as the tank is only cleaned once every few years and disposed directly at the sewage facility bypassing miles of pipeline that get clogged, broken, compromised. Two years ago, the city did a massive redo of the sewer line out front of my home and down the street to the east. They had to use larger pipes due to suburban growth. The same in the town to the south. My compact little system is working fine, filtering down the west side of my little acre unimpeded. I feel quite smug at moments feeling that I am not contributing daily to the already strained system of sewers and paying monthly for its upkeep. Still, I hope in the not-too-distant future that we humans can find a cleaner smarter way to take care of our massive amount of waste.
As for rivers, I grew up not far from the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. I remember when it caught on fire! Not long ago looking at housing online for my hopeful move back to my home state, there was a darling cottage on that very same river. It has come a long way!