Sewage UK: New petition launched against raw waste dumped in UK waterways - that can be signed with sewage

A new petition has been launched against sewage pollution that can be signed with actual sewage. The petition, called ‘The Dirty Protest’, is an online petition that is signed using your phone or touchpad with your name then printed using a specially designed ink that features 50% sewage from drain pipes. 

The petitions are then printed and delivered to the responsible politicians across the globe. Pernille Weiss, Member of the European Parliament and Chairwoman of the Water Group, was the first person to sign the petition, saying she decided to “sign my name in s*** to stop untreated sewage from being pumped into our ocean”. She added: “I need all of you to sign, so we can show every politician that this problem is too big and too important to be ignored.” 

When the petition is signed the printed signature is delivered to the responsible politician in the country where the person signed, once local petition requirements are reached. It is the first international collaboration and one million signatures of ‘The Dirty Protest’ will be delivered to the European Parliament and any other intergovernmental organisations it thinks can help make a change.

The Dirty Protest is a global initiative by Clean Ocean (Rent Hav), Ocean Sewage Alliance, and Renasys. It says that “every year billions of litres of untreated sewage is dumped straight into the ocean, and for years politicians have chosen to ignore the problem”, adding that “but for the first time, sewage pollution is being taken to a place where they can’t ignore it; their desks.”

The petition comes amid public anger over the amount of sewage being dumped into UK rivers and seas. It also comes straight after Joe Lycett’s sewage documentary, Joe Lycett vs Sewage, that aired on Channel 4 on Tuesday (20 February). 

The comedian speaks to a whistle-blower at a major UK water and sewerage company who lifts the lid on the current “dilapidated” state of the sewage treatment network and confirms that wastewater workers are incentivised not to report sewage spills. The whistle-blower has worked in wastewater for 15 years and reveals that some wastewater works “haven’t had any investment since the 1950s”, describing them as “absolutely dilapidated and falling apart; held together with sticky tape and plasticine”. He reveals that sewage spills typically occur as a result of mechanical breakdowns which he attributes to lack of investment and upkeep, and he previously operated a large works which was putting in excess of 7 million litres of untreated sewage into local rivers every time it rained.

If you would like to sign the petition you can find it using this link at www.dirtyprotest.org - and you can learn more about the initiative.