Greenpeace volunteers have shown Burgess Park and East Street Market “the love” in a “community clean” carried out last month.
South London’s biggest green space was cleaned up by a number of volunteers from Southwark Greenpeace Group on Saturday 12, while the following weekend another group of volunteers cleared East Street near Elephant and Castle.
Fourteen bags of rubbish were collected from Burgess Park, whereas a further 20 were gathered during the East Street cleanup.
Most of this rubbish was plastic bottles and food packaging.
“Our city’s green spaces need to be protected and I was shocked that we collected so many bags of rubbish during the community clean,” said Flick Brown, a Greenpeace volunteer who took part in the Burgess Park clear up.
“The big pond in the centre of Burgess park is home to water birds and many fish and it was sad to see so much plastic waste on its banks,” he added.
The cleaning operations were arranged as part of the group’s “show the love campaign”, which intends to highlight “what people love and don’t want to lose to climate change.”
“The litter pick was a great way of getting out into the community to show the importance of keeping our local area clean and some local residents even joined us in helping with the clear up,” said Flick.
“It is clear that Southwark locals care about their impact on the environment,” he continued.
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Southwark Greenpeace Group is calling on the government to transition away from fossil fuels to renewables, roll out a nationwide programme to improve home insulation, invest in green transport, walking and cycling.
They also want to see a reduction in single-use plastics by 50 per cent before 2025.
Flick added: “The climate crisis can feel scary, but for me, taking part in Show the Love is a really powerful way to come together with other people in my local area to call on decision-makers, from Southwark Council to the UK Government to actually deliver on our legally-binding climate targets and create a better, fairer, greener world for everyone.”