Plastic Free Helensburgh Update

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Plastic Free Helensurgh 
In the last quarter, along with HCC we cleared 150kg of mainly plastics from the beaches
plus a number of large items including a fridge door, a seat cushion and a ton or so of large
logs and each month a skip full of rotting methane emitting, debris strewn seaweed. 
With thanks to A&B Communities we have we have ordered four litter picking stations to
facilitate regular litter picking by concerned citizens at litter hot spots. 
We also attended Scottish Waters Stakeholder Annual Conference and have organised two
events.
On the 18th of November Scottish Waters “ Bin the Wipes” campaign is coming to the
market in Colquhoun Square  and to the PTA Fair at Hermitage Academy from 1000 to 1400.
You may have seen the campaign adverts on TV. Look for more in social media, postered
around the area and messages stencilled on the streets. 
Many people havre no bathroom bin. Scottish Water will be distributing FREE BINS.
With heavy flooding rainfall it is increasingly important to keep our combined drainage
system as free flowing as possible. 
That includes rubbish flowing into street drains. 
The message is only flush 3 Ps, Pee, Poo and Paper.
We find all sorts of Sewage related debris and foul wipes on the beaches.
Helensburgh had 108 blockages, this costs, in terms of nuisance, time, disruption and
resources. 
It also leads to flooding and the Combined Sewer Overflows discharging 6mm screened but
untreated into the sea.
Wipes clog with fat lead to fat bergs. Labelling as flushable only means they go round the
bend.
PFH and SW are supporting the banning of wipes manufactured with plastics. 
The second exiting outing is to Helensburgh Sewage Treatment Works where we are
interested to seen just how much rubbish from loos, sinks and drains is cleared from the
system prior to treatment.