Journal readers may remember a report on Midsomer Norton antique shop owner, Sean Dudden, who has been working tirelessly to keep the River Somer clear of plastic alongside his day job. A few months on, Lucy Slade caught up with Sean to see how his campaign has grown.

His group, Midsomer Norton River Clean Volunteers, are part of ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ and feature on the North Cotswold Community radio every month to keep people talking about plastic awareness and river cleanliness.

He and a group of volunteers, which have been up to six at a time, give up their fortnightly Saturdays to pick up the public’s litter along and in the river.

The group have found anything from pen lids to playing balls, to people’s credit cards and mobile phones.

Speaking to The Journal, Sean said: “Two weeks ago, I counted 2,400 visible plastic items from outside my store, to the river. If we have that much in such a small distance, then how much is in our rivers? Last week, I picked up twelves kilos in total. B&NES sent me yellow waste bags, which hold up to 10 kilos, and last year alone, I managed to use seventy of them, just from plastic waste in the river.

“There is a definite pattern in the litter that people throw onto the streets with straws, cigarette lighters and plastic children’s toys being the most prominent. They all break down into micro-plastics and will be in the environment for hundreds of years. How are we supposed to count it all?

“We have only just reached the dawn of the plastic problem, it will be years before it properly changes. I think we have crossed the line for how much plastic is polluting our rivers and seas. I never thought that I would see so much in this world.”

According to WWF, we dump eight million tonnes of plastic into the sea each year. Sean is hoping to change people’s habits from the beginning by encouraging the switch-out of plastic for other, re-usable items such as bamboo toothbrushes and metal water bottles that can be used in any weather.

Sean, with five volunteers, walked along the river for thirty minutes and managed to collect 6.5 kilos of plastic waste, which cannot be recycled due to the contamination with the river water, so gets put in landfill, or sent to Holland to burn.

During that time, Sean found a bit of plastic in the river that he identified as being over fifty-years-old. He said: “Fifty years in the sun changes a plastic, but mostly it does not and will not, biodegrade.

“Our planet is for everyone; parents need to tell their children to keep the country clean so that it is passed down generationally and becomes second nature, otherwise, future generations will be having to deal with it all if we do not sort it now.”

Speaking positively about the change, Sean said: “2020 should be the year we make the big push and change our habits. My wife and I blitzed our house of plastic and it took us three months – we could not believe how much there was. But doing that enabled us to cut our plastic use by 95%, which we have found fairly easy to keep up.”

At the river clear-up, volunteer, Louise, said: “I bumped into Sean in the

High Street and he started talking to me about all of the plastic waste in our town. It opened my eyes and made me think about it a lot, which is why I started coming. Wherever I walk, I am noticing all the pieces of plastic and pick it up whenever I can.

“If people did not drop it in the first place, we would not have this problem, but I guess people do not realise how much of their rubbish is going into our rivers and seas.”

Sean is not the only one who feels passionately about clearing the rivers of waste. Sharon Adams said: “I have been doing this since July and quite frankly, I am depressed by it all. We pick up the litter and the next day, it is back. There are three bins in St Chad’s Well, where we collect, you cannot leave the place without passing one, but people just leave their rubbish on the floor because they know someone else will come along to pick it up.”

Sean added: “It really is disgusting. The plastic bags that B&NES use are ridiculous. I have asked them to look into it so many times! We should look at what they do in Austria and Germany with their recycling because I think that would stop people littering as much.

“Although, I have never seen such a massive interest in recycling as there has been recently. We need to educate people and get them involved in groups such as mine.”

Fi, another of Sean’s volunteers, explained her involvement in groups which are working to cut waste. She

said: “As well as volunteering with Sean, I have been helping the community to cut plastic waste through Olio, an app that connects neighbours with one another to share unwanted food, that is perfectly okay, and stop it being thrown away. I collect food from Tesco and then people drop off and collect other people’s unwanted food from our base in a local car park.

“It is about cutting food waste down. There are over sixty families who come and collect the free food from us; it is a great way to bring the community together and help reduce not only food waste, but plastic waste, too.”

Sean is hoping his work will help others understand the detrimental effect that waste has on the environment, and by involving the people who have a voice to make a difference, there will be a dramatic change to people’s mindsets.

“I met Ian Mock, from Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust, who spoke to me about

giving us funding for a banner, wellingtons and additional litter pickers which would be amazing. I want to leave a legacy and create an environmental training programme for people to get hands-on experience working and helping the environment.

“Cllr Tim Ball has helped us to get our message across in Bath and Cllr Sarah War- ren is our help in B&NES, doing great work in supporting us in general and to get proper waste bags in order to clean the rivers of rubbish.”

“Seeing people join me clear the river of rubbish is a really positive step forward to a better and non-plastic future. It is ultra important to keep the plastic problem in people’s mindsets, as doing so will help keep our rivers clean and see our wildlife return to areas where it may have been lost.”

To volunteer alongside Sean, contact him via Facebook: Midsomer Norton area – River Clean Volunteers.