We hope you've enjoyed playing our brand new Upstream, Downstream game at WWT centres this February. It is a game, yes, but one based on real life; a fun way of exploring a very serious subject. Rivers are a vital part of a bigger whole - acting like a series of arteries keeping us and many other things alive.
We hope you've enjoyed playing our brand new Upstream, Downstream game at WWT centres this February. It is a game, yes, but one based on real life; a fun way of exploring a very serious subject. Rivers are a vital part of a bigger whole - acting like a series of arteries keeping us and many other things alive.
We are responsible
The kinds of household-based pollution you could have caused to the river (while playing the game) are just the same as those which cause some of the problems day to day to our real rivers. But there again, the things which will have gained you extra points during the game are the sort of things you can do to reverse the damage we've too often done in the past.
We can change things
The message is that what we do, what we buy, and the care we decide to take can and does make a difference. Some pointers are the actions in the game:
- The type of detergents we use to wash our clothes in, do our hair and the dishes
- What we do with waste oils, paints, garden and household chemicals. You wouldn't like them poured into your bath
- The care with which we deal with our sewage
- The amount of water we use. We run rivers dry in some parts of Britain. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/drought
and http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/pollution/water
- The use we make of rain water and what we do with it after it's come off our roof. For those of us living in towns (and that's 70% of us in countries like UK) the concrete and tarmac we surround ourselves with can lead to intense flooding - not good for rivers, wildlife or people
- Supporting the wetland conservation work carried out by WWT by becoming a member. Click here for more details.
Want to find out more?
WWT is a leading global wetland conservation organization, saving wetlands for wildlife and people. WWT is committed to saving wetlands and their wildlife by understanding and finding solutions to the threats that affect their survival including our water usage - http://www.wwt.org.uk/downloads/448/blueprint_for_water.html
The Environment Agency is the government body responsible for monitoring and policing water quality in rivers. The different ways we use to measure the quality of the River Whoosh are like those the Environment Agency uses in real life. A good place to look at this is http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research to find out more about water quality.