AlfaPeople Joins the Fight Against Plastic Pollution in the Thames
AlfaPeople |
Apr 29, 2019

AlfaPeople Joins the Fight Against Plastic Pollution in the Thames

The AlfaPeople UK team came together last week, as we do every quarter, to re-group and share important updates on the business – and to enjoy a good old catch up over a few drinks! This time, however, we had another important reason to meet: the start of a new CSR initiative which will see us giving back to the community by participating with local charities in their various worthy causes.

To kick things off, we donned our wellies and marigolds to spend a couple of hours with the wonderful team at Thames21 – an organization whose aim is to clean up and take care of London’s 400-mile network of waterways. Our mission? To head down onto the banks of the Thames, near the ever-popular Southbank, armed with our litter grabbers and bin bags, and scour the exposed riverbed for any plastic – big or small.

Thames21 recently led a team that recovered over 4,000 plastic bottles from a site in Rainham in just under 3 hours! And while we didn’t beat that impressive record, we did all manage to fill our bin bags with an array of weird and wonderful items, from traffic cones, to padlocks and monopoly pieces to the hundreds of lollipop sticks we came across. Thames21 told us they often come across more dangerous or sinister items, from syringes, to even guns. But luckily this didn’t happen on our watch! And after a couple hours of tenacious litter picking, we hung up our boots and headed to the pub for some well-deserved drinks.

It was a privilege to work with this incredible charity and to get an insight into some of the brilliant work they do – from transforming our local waterways, increasing biodiversity, helping to reduce urban flooding, conducting pioneering research into the health of our rivers and educating communities on the importance of maintaining such vital natural resources. You can find out more about Thames21 and how you can get involved at www.thames21.org.uk.

We look forward to bringing you news on our next charitable adventure later this year.