The events and activities took place in cities across the UK on 18th and 19th September, as part of the Treasure Your River campaign which aims to raise awareness of marine litter and offer people the opportunity to get involved in litter clearing interventions.
In 2019, polling by the environmental charity Hubbub, who are running the campaign with the support of The Coca-Cola Foundation, found that 75% of people in the UK want to do more to reduce litter in the ocean.
This enthusiasm was evident at the Talk Like a Pirate Day events, with a total of 442 volunteers turning up to collect 106 bags of rubbish from rivers, canals, towpaths and parks. The events involved fun and creative ways to get the public involved - volunteers in Bristol ran plastic fishing trips on a boat made of recycled plastic, while the team in Liverpool ran a workshop to build a pirate ship out of litter. Further events included litter picks, photography workshops and the opportunity to captain a remote-controlled litter-clearing pirate ship which took place in Cardiff, London, Nottingham, and Kirkintilloch.
Since its launch in May, the Treasure Your River campaign has seen more than 905 volunteers clear over 754 bags of litter.
Gavin Ellis, Director and Co-founder of Hubbub said “By running creative family events like Talk Like a Pirate Day we want to show people how taking on litter and cleaning up the environment can be fun and easily accessible. The response has been amazing, with nearly one thousand people already getting involved in the campaign. We’re grateful to all the local organisations and members of the public who have made it such a success so far.
“We’re really keen to build on this and see even more people getting involved in our next set of plastic fishing trips, litter picks and workshops. By working with local organisations and running events like this we hope to create a long-term change through regular volunteers and improved infrastructure such as easy access recycling bins.”
Jon Woods, General Manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain, said “We are supporting the UK’s largest collaborative effort to prevent and reduce the amount of litter entering our rivers and oceans. Talk Like a Pirate Day is a fantastic initiative and provides simple, practical ways to make a difference to waterways in the local area. We encourage everyone to get involved in removing and recycling as much marine litter as possible.”