Posted on: 19th April 2023

Earth is 70% water. Humans are 60% water. Water is vital to life on this planet, and we urgently need to keep our waterways clean and thriving for the ecosystems they support.

Here in the UK, we’re not taking care of our waterways as we should. It’s been revealed that raw sewage was dumped into our rivers and seas 398,000 times in 2022, and it’s a serious threat for wildlife and wild swimmers alike.

So we’re joining Surfers Against Sewage in asking the Government to take action. According to their letter to MPs, “Targets stretch way out to 2050 with over half of the storm overflows still set to be spewing a toxic cocktail of chemicals and sewage into our waterways in 2040. This is simply too slow.”

The Leeds Craftivists will be supporting them asking MPs to ‘pipe up’ for rivers and seas – but of course we’ll be adding our own creative flair! We’re crafting water droplets to send with our letters, a carefully created gift to show how much we care about clean water.

As well as sending our water drops to change-makers, we’ll be collecting them for an art installation to be displayed around the city. Our individual droplets will come together to form a tidal wave of change!

If you would be interested in joining our campaign, head to the Leeds Sanctuary website for more details of how you can get involved remotely or in-person.