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Think before you throw

We need your help. The Rochester Bridge Trust has a problem, and we can’t solve it on our own.

It’s a problem that’s bad for the bridges, the environment and people but the good news is it can be very easily addressed: we need you to take your litter home, or at the very least to one of the bins located not far from either end of the bridges.

We know the majority of the public is considerate and does this already, but we’re hoping that by drawing people’s attention to this issue it might encourage a few more people to think before they throw.

As each bridge is approximately 200m in length it should take the average pedestrian less than two minutes to cross the bridges – let’s call it three minutes to allow time to safely cross the road – so that’s not a long time to keep litter in your hand, but littering on the bridges is still a problem.

Our Term Maintenance Team has always made a point of keeping the bridges clean and tidy, and this includes clearing any litter that’s left, but cleanliness is more important than ever and time spent collecting litter is time that cannot be spent keeping the bridges clean.

Since the refurbishment began and scaffold was installed alongside and underneath the bridges, the litter that would have been tossed over the bridge and into the river collects on the scaffold. This is dirty and inconvenient for the people working under the bridges, but it has a wider environmental issue too: without the scaffold this would end up in the river, polluting not only the local environment but being washed out to sea and adding to what everyone already knows is a significant plastic waste problem.

The photograph accompanying this article shows litter collected during one walk along the Old Bridge – several sweeps are carried out each day.

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