At Cambridgeshire ACRE, we want our towns and villages to be great places to live – clean, safe, and sustainable. That’s why we’re pleased to be working in partnership with Anglian Water on a community awareness campaign in Soham, Isleham and Fordham.

Anglian Water has seen a higher than usual number of sewer blockages in these communities. These are often caused by everyday items being wrongly flushed down toilets or poured down sinks – things like wipes, cotton buds, fats, oils and grease.

Together with Anglian Water, we’re bringing the Just Bin It campaign to residents to help raise awareness of how small actions at home can make a big difference. The key messages are:

• Only flush the 3 Ps – pee, poo, and (toilet) paper.
• All wipes block pipes – even if they are labelled as flushable, they shouldn’t go down the toilet as they don’t break down quickly enough to prevent blockages.
• Never pour fats, oils or grease down the drain – they solidify and create blocked pipes.

Over the summer and into this autumn, Cambridgeshire ACRE will be out and about in these communities, at local events, with community groups, and in businesses, helping to share these important messages. We’re also running an ongoing marketing campaign promoting the #JustBinIt message and sharing information through Facebook community pages, the local press and local Parish/Town magazines.

An eye-catching part of the outreach so far has been sharing photos on social media of what has actually been removed from Soham’s drains. The images have shocked the community and sparked huge engagement online, helping to raise awareness of the problem and encourage more people to think before they flush or pour.

This work aims to reduce blockages, protect the local environment and help keep local drainage systems working properly, reducing the risk of flooding, costly repairs and disruption for local residents.