April 22nd will mark Earth Day 2022, an international event first held in 1970 to reflect the growing need to take positive action for the health of our environment. In recent times, Earth Day has expanded into one of the largest days on the environmental calendar, shining a global spotlight on important environmental issues and pressing for transformative action.
Earthday.org says that a ‘healthy planet is not an option – it is a necessity.’ Calling on our communities to unite for change and create plans of action, Earth Day 2022’s message is to ‘invest in our planet’ and to implement bold, innovative, and creative solutions to help secure a better future.
SPEL Stormwater supports these goals – many of our products are generational assets with an expected design life that can help to protect our environment for many years. We believe strongly in investing in the planet and aim to future proof our stormwater systems to ensure the health of our waterways and local environments.
Earth Day: Ending Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution harms life across aquatic ecosystems and has impacts that cut across our entire food chain. Plastics litter is often not biodegradable – and exists in our environment for extended periods.
Discarded plastic litter and debris has negative environmental impacts – harming animals, emitting greenhouse gas and congregating in areas like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Australia joins the global community as it begins to phase out single-use plastics and seeks to improve sustainable plastic waste practices.
Gross pollutant traps are one of the vital systems that SPEL implements and manages. Stopping plastic pollution at the source, they capture substantial amounts of plastic debris in urban catchments and prevent it from entering our waterways.
A notable example of this technology is the baffle box, which SPEL has helped implement across the country in a variety of on-site conditions. These robust devices capture plastic rubbish, while also removing sediment, suspended particles, and associated pollutants from stormwater.
In many installations, the public can even see them in action through viewing ports – raising awareness and showing plastic pollution being caught directly.
Find Our more about baffle boxes
Supporting Global Clean-Ups
As part of the Earth Day campaign, The Great Global Clean-up is a worldwide initiative that removes billions of pieces of trash from neighbourhoods, waterways, and parks. Tackling waste head-on is one of the ways we can reduce rubbish in our local environment, and SPEL supplies solutions across the stormwater sector to help achieve these environmental goals.
SPEL takes a hands-on approach and supports the efforts of organisations like Stormwater Shepherds, and we incorporate clean-ups into our calendars to help restore and protect our local environment. These clean-ups are a fantastic opportunity to get out onto our riverways and get our hands dirty and help restore environments to conserve joy in water.
We believe in investing in our planet both in terms of infrastructure and assets, but also by giving a helping hand to the people and organisations that are helping raise awareness and keep our earth clean.
