launched 'The Sea Starts Here', a campaign promoting greater consideration of what gets thrown down gully grates and drains, as it all eventually ends up in the ocean.
To draw attention to the damage litter causes to the UK’s waterways, lakes, and oceans, leading housing provider Barratt Homes and specialist civils provider Wrekin Products have partnered on an initiative - ‘The Sea Starts Here’ - to educate the public.
The campaign’s message will be featured prominently on Wrekin gully grates in Barratt’s Kings Park, a David Wilson Homes development in Macclesfield. It aims to raise awareness of how small pieces of litter can snowball into lasting environmental effects. To further grab attention, Kings Park gully grates have been painted a stark bright blue.
Keep Britain Tidy estimates that the UK discards a staggering 30 million tonnes of litter annually, incurring a cleanup cost of £1 billion. Shockingly, nearly half of this litter (14 million) ends up contaminating rivers and canals, as reported by the Canal & River Trust. This ongoing damage has led to a situation where none of the waterways are currently classified as being in ‘good health’.
Simon Turner, Commercial Director at Wrekin Products, said: “We hope this campaign will go some way to increasing awareness about the interconnectedness of our infrastructure and the problems and effects of water pollution on our marine wildlife.
“As one of the most popular suppliers of gully grates in the UK, we’re using our position as an opportunity to create a positive environmental impact by reminding people that there is a correct place for litter to go, and it’s not down our drains.
“We’re lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful natural landscapes on the planet, and so it’s a shame to see it needlessly harmed by pollution and rubbish. More so when we see the ripple effects of excess nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen seeping into and harming our freshwater habitats, and in some cases being enough to kill the fish population.
“Kings Park is just the beginning of this campaign, and we’ll be looking to spread this important message even further throughout this year and beyond. The main culprit of river pollution in the UK is smoking-related litter. However, confectionary packets, drinks bottles and cans, fast food, wet wipes, and, more recently, disposable vapes all contribute to a harmful chemical cocktail.”
The government’s Environmental Audit Committee (2022) found that housing developments’ drainage systems which are clogged with ‘a profusion of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste’, in addition to heavy rainfall, often leads to an overloaded sewerage system unable to cope effectively.
Alaric Ross-Wagenknecht, Project Engineer at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Anglia, said: “As leaders in the residential housebuilding sector, we wanted to work with Wrekin to educate children and adults in a fun and informative way about the importance of pollution control and the role of drainage infrastructure and the water cycle.
“To permanently imprint the message ‘The Sea Starts Here’ on a gully grating means the message will be here for years to come, throughout the gully’s whole life cycle. That will get people thinking twice about gullies and their role.”
