A forceful new campaign aimed at stemming the murky flow of litter into London’s river has got our backing. For Fish‘s Sake (#FFS) is encouraging commuters and visitors alike to protect and cherish the Thames by not adding to the mess.

Research by campaign founders Hubbub (an environmental charity) found that seven in 10 Londoners thought that the Thames was too polluted for fish (despite the fact it’s actually home to 125 different species).

And, as the Thames is worth an annual £40 billion to the British economy, providing in the region of
140,000 jobs,the campaign

is asking everyone to:
Use the bin – not the gutter, not
the river, not the pavement
If you see some litter and you’re
near a bin – pick it up
If the bin is full, find another one
or take your litter home.

#FFS especially aims to draw attention to food and drink related litter, as it is thought to make up
the majority of rubbish dumped in the tidal Thames.

PLA chief executive Robin Mortimer
said: “We fully support this campaign, especially as it echoes our own efforts to clean up the river. We collect 300 tonnes of driftwood and rubbish each year.”

One half of a new £6.3 million
addition to the tidal Thames’
transport fleet has arrived and been launched into service.

172-passenger Mercury Clipper (pictured) made its London journey from an Isle of Wight shipyard, the first of two new MBNA Thames

Clippers due to enter service
this summer.

The other is Jupiter Clipper. They
took 10 months to build and it’s
hoped Jupiter will be launched
in August.

Sean Collins, MBNA Thames Clippers CEO, said: “It’s fantastic

that we were able to build these
ultra-high specification catamarans here in the UK.

“This build marks a significant investment in MBNA Thames
Clippers and London’s river network and I’m proud of it enabling investment in our team too,”

And research done in 2015 by Royal Holloway University found that up to three-quarters of some fish species in the river have plastic fibres in their gut.

The #FFS campaign will see a series of events, displays and “playful interventions” aimed at encouraging Londoners to rethink their littering habits.