Creek clean up, Hilden, Germany

Activities started with a Clean-Up drive in Hilden, Germany, on Saturday, 3 June, along a creek discharging into the river Rhine and from there into the North Sea. The Rhine had been used for years as a sewer for the agro-chemical and other industries to the point it was forbidden to swim, let alone go fishing for the last remaining fauna. Thanks to European legislation, namely the Water Framework Directive and the Bathing Water Directive waste water treatment plants were established in urban agglomerations on the river and its tributaries in the 1980s, among other measures. Cigarette butts continue to be a dominant item collected. Smokers still seem to underestimate their toxicity to water animals. Also other non easily degradable garbage was collected, in total 8 kg.