Instead of consuming on Black Friday the Paddle Peak Team have been out cleaning the river again, renaming the day “ Black Bag Friday! “
By canoes, kayaks and on foot the team of local paddlesports businesses, clubs and individuals removed plastic pollution from the banks of the River Derwent from Darley Bridge to Matlock. In turn preventing the waste washing downstream and ultimately out to sea….
Paddle Peak’s founder Pete Astles from Darley Dale’s Peak UK Kayaking Co commented:
“The recent floods have left literally thousands of meters of black plastic and netting from hundreds of hay bales hanging from the trees. The only way to access and collect this waste is from water level. Today our team recovered almost 70 bin bags full. This is a local climate emergency and our team is preserving the valley, protecting it’s wildlife and saving tons of plastic pollution from washing further downstream. I’m super proud of everyone for turning up and working so hard on such a cold day.”
The local community group will be out every week over the next few months removing the huge amount of debris the flood has left behind all the way down the valley to Belper.
Huge thanks to the Paddle Peak local community volunteer team from Peak UK, Rapid Horizons, Escape UK, Acclimbatize, Matlock, Midland, and Ichthus Canoe Clubs, British Canoeing, The Derwent Valley Trust and more. Thanks to the Square and Compass in Darley Dale for river access and Derbyshire Dales District Council for collecting the rubbish.
Paddle Peak - cleaning the river, saving the sea.