The rain over the weekend of 26th and 27th July proved a huge accidental boost to the project to clean the Trym. Instead of 10 people spending a couple of hours cleaning the Trym the activity was rescheduled to take place each evening from Monday to Thursday. This allowed many more people to take part on at least one evening. In all a whopping 27 people generously helped clear the river and remove the litter in the surrounding area. In all about 100 man hours were spent clearing the river and litter picking the 500m stretch from the Dingle Bridge towards Shirehampton Road. SusWot are grateful for the equipment lent and advice given by Bristol Avon Rivers Trust.
Cleaning the river was a real team effort. Those in waders and wellies worked in the river, passing stuff up to those on the bank sometimes needing a grappling hook to make it possible to haul out tyres loaded with gravel. There was so much rubbish in the river four barrows were in constant use moving the rubbish to the collection points. Others concentrated on collecting litter from the banks and the surrounding woodland.
We extracted a huge amount from a relatively small area. The water is much clearer and cleaner now and the wildlife will benefit. But the benefits will not just be local. The Trym links to the Avon and the Avon to the Severn, so all the plastic, paint, oil, asbestos, heavy metals and other materials that would have been washed out to sea won’t be, and better still many will be recycled. All the money that Bristol Waste raise by recycling materials is fed back to their owner Bristol City Council. So the tin can that is picked up and put in the recycling not only improves the environment but also helps pay for our local services.
So what’s next? We plan to finish the initial section in August to host a picnic in the meadow in September to encourage people to enjoy the space.
SusWoT organises litter picking on the last Sunday of every month. If you feel inspired to help please email SusWoT at suswot2050@gmail.com. If you want to do something in your local area, litter-picking equipment can be borrowed from SusWoT, the Co-op on Canford Lane, or Bristol Waste, email SusWoT for more information.
