Carve Magazine Issue 228

In total, 37 organisations - including, but not limited to, trade unions, grassroots campaigners, nationwide NGOs, ethical businesses, media platforms - have joined this call to action. This is such a powerful representation of the scale of the public outrage at the ongoing sewage crisis and the willpower there is to transform the water industry once and for all.

Read the letter below

Dear Keir Starmer, Prime Minister and Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs,

We demand an urgent end to the sewage scandal through systemic transformation of the water industry – public and environmental good must be put before private profit.
A year ago, you began your premiership with a clear commitment to deliver on your election mandate to end the sewage pollution crisis and clean up our waters. On Monday, the Independent Water Commission is set to publish its final recommendations but it will fall fatally short if it fails to confront the root cause of the crisis: a system built towards serving private profit cannot deliver an end to sewage pollution.

Your election mandate has given you a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix our broken water system. But this will take more than incremental change—it demands a decisive break from the failed model that has deluged our coastlines, rivers and lakes with sewage.

The need for a full system overhaul is painfully clear. Since privatisation in 1990, water companies have paid shareholders over £74 billion in dividends—while burdening the system with £69 billion in debt. Despite repeated promises to invest, shareholders have actually withdrawn more than they have put in, meanwhile essential infrastructure has been left to crumble. In 2024 alone, untreated sewage was dumped 565,383 times across England and Wales. It’s a 35-year tale of broken pipes, broken promises and a fundamentally broken system.

The consequences of inaction are shocking. Coastal economies and communities are being hammered. Rivers declared ecologically dead. Pollution poisoning our wildlife. Thousands of people are falling ill after swimming in raw sewage. Yet water bills will keep rising – to service debt, to fund dividends – and so it is the public who will continue to pay the price.
Enough is enough. You must act now. Rebuild a system that people can be proud of, not angry about. A system that serves the public and protects nature – not private profit. Anything less would be a betrayal of the promise you made to the electorate.

Yours,

Surfers Against Sewage
River Action
Greenpeace UK
WWF UK
GMB Union
Compass
Zero Hour
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland 
GMB Union
Public and Commercial Services Union
Green New Deal Rising
Wildlife and Countryside Link
Triodos Bank
The Wave Project
38 Degrees
Faith For The Climate
People & Planet
Medact
Health for XR 
Dirty Water Campaign
Blue Marine Foundation 
Women’s Environmental Network
Angling Trust
End Sewage Convoys and Pollution Exmouth (ESCAPE) 
SOS Whitstable
Campaign for National Parks
Centre for Alternative Technology
Finisterre
Carve Magazine
SurfGirl Magazine 
Planet Patrol
Rewilding Britain
Christian Surfers
Good Law Project
The Wildlife Trusts 
Clean Water Sport Alliance Wales
Clean Water Sport Alliance 
The Rivers Trust 

Communities up and down the country will unite on Saturday 19 July to take a stand against the Government’s inaction on plastic pollution

Protests and beach cleans will be taking place across the country as part of a National Day of Action organised by Surfers Against Sewage

The largest protest will take place in Penzance, the first ever Plastic Free Community, where a ‘human chain’ of hundreds of people will show the town’s resistance to the plastic problem.

Campaigners and community groups from Penzance to Porthcawl are joining forces for a National Day of Action against plastic pollution this Saturday, 19 July. The Surfers Against Sewage “The People vs Plastic” campaign will see protestors descend on the UK’s beaches, city streets and everywhere in between to send a clear message: the government must act decisively to tackle plastic pollution at its source, to position the UK as a global leader in the fight against single-use plastics.

The campaign aims to ramp up the pressure on Government ahead of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, reconvening in Geneva from 5-14 August. Earlier talks collapsed in South Korea, last year, with countries failing to agree on reducing plastic production. Campaigners say that a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty is urgently needed to cut pollution at its source and protect blue spaces.

Ahead of the National Day of Action, communities from coast to city will host grassroots events, from “Trash Mobs” in local schools to community-led cleans, building momentum for the nationwide protest. Data will be collected during the community cleans, which will help Surfers Against Sewage map the true scale of plastic pollution, and name the brands and retailers most to blame.

The public can get involved by heading to the Surfers Against Sewage website to find a local protest to join or show support during the Week of Action by getting involved with a local Plastic Free Community close to home.

Communities and schools are at the forefront of Surfers Against Sewage’s campaign against plastic, with over 400 active Plastic Free Communities and over 3,000 Plastic Free Schools leading the way in the fight against plastic in their local area. So far in 2025, over 88,000 people have taken part in over 3,600 local cleans, collecting over 40,000kg of rubbish, as part of the charity’s Million Mile Clean initiative.

Giles Bristow, Chief Executive at Surfers Against Sewage, said:
“Broken promises, stalled progress, surging pollution. We are drowning in the toxic tide of plastic that continues to rise. Enough is enough, so we are rising up too. As families pack their buckets and spades and the summer holidays begin, there’s no better time to shine a light on the plastics choking our shores. The UK remains one of the worst offenders for generating single-use waste that travels the globe, and our government is still dawdling on action.

“We’re sick to death of plastic-pushing corporations fuelling this crisis while spinning greenwashing lies and pointing the finger at consumers. They churn out mountains of non-recyclable packaging, sabotage vital policies behind closed doors, and consistently miss every voluntary target. The Labour government pledged us a zero-waste future, we’re all ears, but we won’t settle for anything less.

“That’s why, on Saturday 19 July, as the school holidays get underway, we’re calling on Ocean Activists from Penzance to Porthcawl and everywhere in between to make their voices heard. Whether you’re clearing your favourite beach or marching through city streets, communities hold the power to drive change. With Global Plastics Treaty negotiations just around the corner, we must turn up the heat. Together, we can become a force impossible for leaders, and polluters, to ignore.”

Lucy Jones, protest organiser in Porthcawl, Wales said:
“I’m taking part in the People vs Plastic protest and beach clean because I’m tired of seeing our beautiful coastlines polluted with plastic waste. This isn’t just about litter it’s about protecting marine life, preserving nature for future generations, and demanding real change from industries and governments. Every piece of plastic we remove, and every voice raised is a step towards a cleaner, healthier planet.” 

The flagship protest, led by Surfers Against Sewage, will take place in Penzance, Cornwall. Rachel Yates is the Senior Communities Manager and leads the Plastic Free Communities movement at Surfers Against Sewage. She said: “Penzance was the first ever SAS Plastic Free Community. This weekend, we are standing up to the polluters and joining hands in a massive human chain along the promenade. Our voices will be heard loud and clear: we must stop the plastic problem, and the government must step up to protect our ocean from this threat.

“As a town we have been working hard to reduce single-use plastic, but producers and brands are still pumping out products we just don’t want.It’s time to send a message that communities are doing their best to protect the ocean, now producers and big business must do the same.”

Surfers Against Sewage is calling on the UK Government to deliver on the goals of the Global Plastics Treaty immediately through joined up and ambitious national plans to end plastic pollution, including:

• Setting legally-binding targets to cut plastic pollution 

• Implementing an effective circular economy centred on reuse and refill, including the implementation of a comprehensive Deposit Return Scheme and introduction of binding reuse targets 

• Holding polluters to account by enforcing current laws and delivering Extended Producer Responsibility schemes that make polluters pay.  

Protest locations and National Week of Action information can be found on the Surfers Against Sewage website. Following the protest, the charity is encouraging people to sign a petition to put pressure on the Government to tackle the problem.

For more information, visit the campaign page here.