The plastic soup: Sea creatures have their stomachs full of it and so do we. We consume about one credit card of plastic per week. The ingredients of the plastic soup come from us: (open) garbage bags next to the container, menus from the restaurant terraces, confetti and cups from parties near the canal, and plastic bags from the market.
How much of this plastic actually flows through our canals and rivers and how much of it reaches the sea? Research it as a Plastic Spotter together with other scientists! This way we learn more about the transport of plastic in the water and we can prevent it from reaching the sea and contributing to the plastic soup.
Download the CrowdWater app and register.
View a canal or river, preferably from a bridge, and add your measurement location to the app.
Take a picture of the water and indicate if the water flows, which part of the canal or river you have seen and how much plastic you see. To get a good idea of the distribution of plastic at this location, add a measurement to the same location every few days.
Join also a canoeing session to examine the plastic waste in more detail and to clean up the canals.
We're not just going to watch the plastic flowing into the sea. We also want to clean-up the mess. With a new canoe fleet, volunteers will be able to go on the water in Leiden again in April to make it plastic-free. Together we will clean our water! Support the clean-up actions with a contribution.
Join also a canoeing session to examine the plastic waste in more detail and to clean up the canals. Because of the Corona virus the canoeing sessions are postponed, until further notice.
Go Canoeing!
From time to time we get reports from colleagues, friends and residents about plastic hotspots and other kinds of pollution. But Saturday 18 April we received a very remarkable report: an oil spill had been spotted in the Nieuwe Rijn canal!
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Due to the Corona crisis, all organised activities by canoe in Leiden are canceled for some time. We are waiting for developments and advises from RIVM (Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) before we can restart our activities, with or without the necessary restrictions. Until then, we can already notice the effects of Corona on the canals.
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With a new season of litter fishing at our doorstep, we focussed on testing the software used to map waste in de Leiden canals. During such a test we found the most expensive object so far from the water. We reckon this record will not be broken anytime soon! The crowdfunding for extra canoes is going well and we are steadily approaching the target amount.
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Need some help? Tips or questions? Please let us know by e-mail via info@citscilab.nl.
This project arose from questions from residents of Leiden. In honour of the 444th anniversary of Leiden University, this project was set up partly thanks to the financial support of Leiden University and the municipality of Leiden.
