Join the 10th 3 Rivers Clean Up (3RCU) the UK’s largest community led event of its kind – all equipment provided, just turn up and you’ll:
- Meet others, get a Quaggy Duck’s eye-view and a new sense of your area
- Help keep our local rivers clear of harmful plastic and other waste that adds to flood risk
- Be improving conditions for local wildlife by removing invasive plants
For 3 weeks, people across Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham get into their local rivers to remove plastic, other polluting rubbish and invasive non-native plants – mainly Himalayan Balsam – which can harm the ecology of the rivers.
Getting drastic with plastic
Taking plastic and other waste out the river also helps avoid the build of materials in the river which can add to flood risk. This also rids our rivers of waste blighting our neighbourhoods and endangering wildlife on and in our rivers.
Taking out pesky plants
Why remove Himalayan Balsam? It tends to weaken river banks and by smothering other plants it limits the variety of plant species along our rivers needed to support a variety of insects and other wildlife.
Balsam grows along rivers because when its seed heads bust rivers carry the seeds to new areas where damp river banks are a perfect place to grow. By removing balsam in June we stop the spread before the seed pods mature.
This helps keep our rivers and river banks healthy for a range of wildlife – plants, insects and mammals – instead of being dominated by single species.
Join QWAG for its clean ups on the River Quaggy during the 3 weeks.
More info: www.3riverscleanup.co.uk
