Unblocktober

By Ella Garrud

Living Seas Officer

This year, Sussex Wildlife Trust are supporting Unblocktober – a national campaign and awareness month during October to improve the health of our drains, sewers, watercourses and seas. For decades, the British public have been pouring and flushing harmful substances and materials down the drain, often without realising what this has been doing to our waterways and oceans. Pouring things like cooking oil, butter and margarine, cooking sauces and even crumbs have contributed to creating massive fatbergs. You may remember the enormous, 130 tonne and 250 m long fatberg that was discovered in Whitechapel sewers in 2017. It took about nine weeks to completely remove, costing around £9 million.

And it’s not just fat, oil and grease (FOGs) that are causing problems. Plastic products, such as nappies, sanitary products, contact lenses and wet wipes are often flushed down our drains, contributing to fatbergs by becoming congealed with the FOGs.

These plastic products also often pass through our sewers and end up in the ocean, contributing to the eight million tonnes of plastic that enter our seas every year. Once there, they immediately become hazards to marine life. Animals can easily become entangled in plastic, causing them to starve or drown. Plastics also never truly degrade, instead they break down into smaller and smaller pieces and are often consumed by many marine creatures.

What can you do to help? Unblocktober are asking people to sign up to their campaign and pledge not to put anything harmful down the drain. You can find a full list of what should not be put down the drain on the Unblocktober website. Although this is a campaign for October, we urge you to avoid putting any of these substances down the drain during all months of the year! It’s one small action you can take as individual that will reduce your impact on the amazing wildlife found in our rivers and oceans.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today!