Can wild swimming unite communities in opposition to single-use plastics?

Communities throughout England might quickly profit from 13 new designated bathing water websites, in what ministers describe as a major growth of protected, monitored locations to swim.

Among the many proposals is the primary ever designated bathing spot on the River Thames in London at Ham and Kingston – a stretch of river as soon as declared biologically useless within the Fifties due to air pollution. Right now, it’s being put ahead as an emblem of renewal.

If authorized, the additions would convey the whole variety of bathing waters in England to 464. Final yr, 93% met acceptable requirements for swimming, with 4 in 5 rated both ‘glorious’ or ‘good’. The proposals comply with reforms to the Bathing Water Rules supposed to modernise monitoring and higher replicate how individuals really use rivers, lakes and seashores.

Outside swimming in England is not a fringe pursuit however is changing into a part of civic identification, and with it comes a brand new form of environmental leverage.

On a chilly January morning in Brighton, swimmers gathered at Sea Lanes – the nationwide open water swimming centre constructed immediately on the seashore – pulling on wetsuits and adjusting goggles earlier than heading into the Channel. Others opted for the heated 50-metre outside pool that runs parallel to the shoreline.

Sea Lanes, which opened solely three years in the past, is prospering and has just lately introduced plans for related amenities to open later this yr in Portsmouth and in London, the place building has began on a floating pure water pool at Eden Dock in Canary Wharf.  

In Brighton, swimmers rising from the ocean have been handed scorching drinks in refillable bottles relatively than disposable ones. The giveaway was organised by frank inexperienced, an Australian-founded reusable bottle model that has made open water swimming central to its UK marketing campaign this yr. The occasion was supported by MINI, whose electrical Countryman fashioned a part of the backdrop – a low-emissions mannequin positioned round related environmental values.

The message was about normalising and rewarding refill tradition in locations the place single-use plastic has lengthy been the default.

Dan Roberts, head of UK for frank inexperienced, believes swimming gives a cultural turning level. “We’re encouraging individuals to reconnect with the water however on the similar time plastic waste continues to be ending up in those self same waters,” he says. “If this motion goes to develop responsibly, the setting must be entrance and centre.”

In England, the common grownup buys round 175 single-use plastic bottles every year. Roughly 7.7bn plastic bottles are offered yearly, with an estimated 3.5bn used for water, in keeping with a Home of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report. Solely a fraction are recycled. Round 80% of marine litter is plastic, and bottles are the second largest contributor and drinks containers stay among the many commonest gadgets present in coastal clean-ups.

The query is whether or not a visual, rising swimming tradition can speed up coverage change. There may be precedent. In 2019, the Isle of Skye grew to become one of many first locations within the UK the place native retailers voluntarily stopped promoting single-use plastic water bottles following a group marketing campaign. Throughout Europe and elements of the US, nationwide parks, cities and cultural establishments have launched partial or full bans on single-use plastic bottles, changing them with refill infrastructure. 

Roberts argues that behaviour change will depend on comfort. “We will’t simply inform individuals to do higher,” he says. “Comfort drives behaviour, so it’s integral that carrying refillable bottles turns into a part of our tradition. However there additionally must be infrastructure – water fountains, public refill stations – to help it.”

If this motion goes to develop responsibly, the setting must be entrance and centre

Funding that infrastructure is the place collaboration may result in change. In Brighton, the Pleasure in Place programme has awarded the town £20 million over ten years to help regeneration and public realm enhancements. Group leaders will assist determine the place that cash is spent and increasing refill factors alongside the seafront might sit inside that framework, alongside potential public-private partnerships wherein manufacturers contribute funding or gear.

Group teams are alert to the dangers of superficial alignment. Organisations akin to Go away No Hint Brighton have beforehand made clear they solely wish to work with companions whose environmental commitments run deeper than advertising and marketing.  

That alignment is starting to take form on the south coast. Sea Lanes supplies amenities. The council shapes infrastructure. Manufacturers push tradition change and marketing campaign teams preserve scrutiny. 

Brighton’s Large Swim is predicted to convey collectively greater than 1,000 girls in March, to mark Worldwide Ladies’s Day and lift funds for Surfers In opposition to Sewage.  

“We’re turning a joyful sea dip into a robust name to finish air pollution,” says occasion organiser and Surfers In opposition to Sewage ambassador Nicky Chisholm.

Individually, refusing a plastic bottle is a small act, however shifts in tradition might pressure councils to go additional – whether or not by proscribing gross sales in delicate areas, increasing refill networks or embedding plastic discount into regeneration plans.

The rise of out of doors swimming is not going to remedy England’s plastic drawback by itself however as entry to designated bathing waters expands, rivers and coastlines change into shared areas, protected by the individuals who use them.

On Brighton seashore, swimmers wrapped in towels cradled reusable bottles as an alternative of disposable ones. A modest gesture that if scaled throughout England’s rising swimming group, might effectively shift tradition and coverage.

Primary picture: jax10289