I Eat Rubbish

I Eat Rubbish

This cage is floating along the Thames River and gathering rubbish that has been thrown into the water. "I eat rubbish!", the notice fixed to it claims that it collects 40 tons of rubbish every year; the equivalent of 800,000 plastic bottles. Called a "passive debris collector", nine of them have been bobbing along the river for the past five years. Each captures tons of floating litter; bottles, cans, and plastic, that otherwise would have flowed out to sea and killed fish and birds. It was initiated by Thames21, an environmental charity working with communities to clean up the river, get rid of graffiti and create new wildlife habitats. They also operate a river cleanup boat called the “Taranchewer,” which is specially designed with a front-mounted conveyer that scoops floating litter off the water's surface. Over the past 18 months, it has hauled out over 100 tons of rubbish from the London Canal system. The Thames is now one of the cleanest metropolitan rivers, home to 115 species of birds. :: Thames21