South Cots Litter Pick Sat 13th Sept

SOUTH COTSWOLDS RIVER THAMES LITTER PICK & WATER QUALITY TESTING

Saturday 13 September 2025

Our plan is to raise awareness of the pollution from litter/plastics of our countryside and from chemicals/sewage that are dumped or leach into our River Thames. Our objectives:

• To collect and recycle/dispose of litter along the Thames Path from Source to Lechlade-Upon-Thames in the South Cotswolds constituency
• To test and monitor the health of the River Thames water quality at given points; repeating this in the future as part of the EarthWatch Europe Water Blitz.

Our South Cotswolds MP Dr Roz Savage MBE is campaigning to stop sewage dumping and clean up our rivers.  The River Thames, from its Source near Kemble to where it becomes navigable at Lechlade Upon Thames, lies in her constituency.    She says: “Water is the stuff of life, and clean water is vital …    So, the official news from the Environment Agency that record levels of disgusting sewage has been dumped into our rivers, streams and seas, appals me to my core …   As residents we have a right to expect our rivers and streams, lakes and seas to be clean and safe. As customers we have no choice in who provides our water.”

How polluted is the River Thames that flows through our constituency?

Earthwatch Europe aim to transform our rivers, lakes, and other water courses, which have been polluted and become lifeless from climate change and over-exploitation, into clean, thriving habitats for people and wildlife. They use citizen science to monitor water quality, identify problems and fight for improvements – providing kits for people to test their local waterbody at a given date and the data collected allows them to compare freshwater health. Kathryn Gray on behalf of AK WI does this but our aim is to expand this for the whole of our constituency.

How polluted is our countryside with litter and plastics?

Greenpeace are campaigning to reduce the production of plastics, especially single-use plastics, as they are polluting our water courses and oceans, and microplastics have even been found in our bodies. And of course, we see plastics and other non-biodegradable materials thrown as litter all over our countryside – without litter pickers like us it stays there for decades.

By signing up to take part in South Cotswolds River Thames Litter Pick and Water Quality Testing Event on Saturday 13 September 2025, you would be doing something worthwhile to clean up our countryside and river.

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