Local MPs Join Volunteers on Wet Wipe Island
Andy and Fleur see 'Quatermass-style horror' by Hammersmith Bridge
Andy Slaughter and Fleur Anderson with volunteers
Andy Slaughter and Fleur Anderson, MPs for Hammersmith and Putney, joined over 50 volunteers taking part in the #BigWetWipeCount on 11 October .
Thames21, the charity dedicated to improving London’s waterways, had invited local people to count the wet wipes deposited on the foreshore on the south side of Hammersmith Bridge.
The disgusting deposit has grown so large - up to the size of two tennis courts - that it has been dubbed Wet Wipe Island and it could now be changing the course of the river as well as polluting it.
Hammersmith MP Any Slaughter tweeted @hammersmithandy: “A beautiful day and a productive morning on the banks of the Thames, but a messy job as I join @Thames21 and @PutneyFleur for the #bigwetwipecount. @thameswater @Ofwat @TidewayLondon @LondonPortAuth all present to see the Quatermass-style horror that is #WetWipeIsland.”
Fleur Anderson meanwhile summed up the thoughts of many, tweeting @PutneyFleur: “ Yuck! So many wet wipes on the Thames riverbank. Thank you to the 50 citizen scientists volunteers who joined the @Thames21 and @LondonPortAuth Big Wet Wipe Count this morning.”
She added,“ Plastic means they stay intact even after years.”
The Putney MP is campaigning alongside Thames21 in for wipes containing plastic to be banned from our shops to protect the River Thames. This week she has reintroduced her Private Members Bill, which she says has huge cross-party support. You can read more about this and offer your support here.
A count of wet wipes is held at Hammersmith Bridge
You can also read more about Thames21’s campaign here and on Twitter at #BanPlasticinWetWipes.
The last count on Wet Wipe Island held in May this year collected 1,976 wet wipes, with up to 170 found in one meter square and local volunteer Sam Morland found that the situation has not improved, tweeting @sam_morland: “ Strong turnout of “citizen scientists” today to count the number of wet wipes embedded in randomly selected square meters of the Thames foreshore by Hammersmith Bridge. Finding over 50 to 100 wet wipes in one sq meter within a few minutes was not unusual! “
Following the count, Thames21 tweeted @Thames21: “ A huge thanks to all the volunteers and partners who joined us for our Big Wet Wipe Count event earlier today. 50+ people joined us to assess the scale of the wet wipe problem on the Thames foreshore.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
October 21, 2022