• Gairloch downgrading of sewerage system
    1. Health (how wants sewerage in water) 2. Marine environment (The sea Life will be affected) 3. Economy (Gairloch is fishing port and highly dependent on tourist trade)
    383 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Jackson Elder
  • Ban the use of stink pits in England
    Stink pits are fenced enclosures, bins or holes dug out by gamekeepers who then fill them with rotting carcasses of discarded game birds, as well as other wild and domestic animals in order to attract target species such as foxes in to a large quantity of snares. In this photo, taken on a Sheffield moor, it appears that ‘non-target’ species are being repeatedly captured - in this case mountain hares. The current approach to managing the Sheffield moors appears to be having a significant and detrimental effect on the local mountain hare population. This excessive use of snares by gamekeepers does not follow DEFRA's code of practice on the use of snares, or the industry's good practice guidance (e.g. BASC) of "quality over quantity". This is why we are calling for a ban on stink pits.
    4,477 of 5,000 Signatures
    Created by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust Picture
  • Our hedgehogs need help
    DEFRA has approved the A24 trap trap used in New Zealand to kill hedgehogs for use in the UK. The government have approved the trap for use on rats and stoats, and expect people using the trap to make sure they don’t accidentally trap hedgehogs. But hedgehog expert Hugh Warwick thinks this will make little difference: “The reality is nobody is going to be policing it, nobody is going to be out there, and hedgehogs will get caught in these traps” Hedgehogs are a protected species in the UK, it’s illegal to trap and kill them, even accidentally. Due to the destruction of their habitat by the removal of hedgerows this British favourite has come into urban areas and sought food and safety in our gardens. This has resulted in many deaths as they find most gardeners use slug pellets which are toxic to them and the other main danger for them in urban areas is road death.
    206,729 of 300,000 Signatures
    Created by John Turner
  • National Trust Board of Trustees to consider their positions.
    The board no longer represents the views of it's members, or the public on hunting. Trail hunting does not exist and was created to exploit loopholes in the Hunting Act. All of the hunts involved have vowed to continue hunting, and habitually go hunting without trails being laid with a pack of dogs trained to kill Foxes. They could easily convert to drag hunting if they wished to avoid killing animals, instead they go armed with terrier-men whose only purpose is to dig out animals that are hiding in fear of their lives. Despite banning terrier-men on National Trust land, the hunts still regularly go out to kill animals with no evidence of a trail being laid, and the National Trust do nothing to monitor the activity that they licence, instead answering their members concerns with disingenuous copy and paste answers, and all of this after they used their block vote to override the members wishes. Enough is enough, it is time for them to go!
    1,965 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Paul Taylor
  • Ban the breeding of captive bred barn owls
    So many owls are continuously been bred in captivity for domestic pets. Rescue centres are on a day to day struggle because of this reason. Helpbus try to stop it.
    110 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Andrew Campbell
  • Make indiscriminate Killing of Wildlife by Companies Illegal
    This is the United kingdoms legacy to its children We have a moral responsibility to retain Britain's wildlife, not wipe it out of existence. We have a responsibility to show our children compassion toward living beings We have a responsibility to show our children that the almighty £pound is not the be all and end all of our existence. - Morals before destruction - compassion before profit - responsibility, accountability and transparency
    604 of 800 Signatures
    Created by Ria Knott
  • Clearer symbol based labels on packaging for flowers and plants which are toxic to pets.
    Not many people are aware of the dangers of certain house plants and flowers if they have house pets. Currently it is only in small print on certain varieties and it is not clear enough - perhaps if buying a gift for someone, you would not notice it. Treatment for suspected lily poisoning in cats is over £600. A simple symbol could save lives, heartache and could prevent a well meant gift from being a fatal mistake.
    157 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Laura Tilson
  • Remove plastic from teabags
    The petition I started last year with 38 Degrees to remove all plastic from tea bags succeeded in persuading the UK's largest tea bag manufacturer, Unilever/PG Tips to remove plastics from their teabags. But the other leading UK teabag manufacturers are still using plastics in their teabags. The issue of having these plastics (polypropylene) in teabags is a concern. 20-25% plastic in each teabag is not a small or insignificant amount when multiplied up by the millions and millions of tea bags consumed daily. These plastics do not biodegrade in the environment. There have been many campaigns to keep plastics and microplastics out of our seas, highlighting the harm they do to marine life. But the same is true of plastics on land as they can cause harm to birds and small mammals. We need to keep ALL plastics OUT of our environment. We know that it is possible to use other materials that are biodegradable and I am told by a major European teabag paper manufacturer that there is a “Gold Standard” of cellulose-based bags that will readily compost in your garden compost bin, which, in fact, goes a stage better than the PLA-based bags about to be employed by PG Tips and Coop. With your support, we can make the other UK teabag manufacturers remove plastic from their tea bags.
    178,249 of 200,000 Signatures
    Created by Mike Armitage Picture
  • Colgate, Let The EU Residents Recycle Their Toothbrushes!
    Currently, in America, you can have your toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and other Colgate products recycled, and you even get payed for it! You send it to Terracycle and they turn it into other products for building materials. But not in the EU! We have to pay to have them recycled and it costs over £100 a box! Toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes wash onto our beaches in the millions every day, if colgate offered everyone the opportunity to recycle their products, their sales would go up!
    160 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Katie Miller
  • Make plastic drink straws obsolete in cinemas
    UK cinemas are responsible for hundreds of thousands of plastic straws being thrown away every week. They make a huge amount of profit on selling fizzy drinks and last year there were 170 million tickets sold to cinemas in the UK. If all those drinks were served with paper straws it'd make a massive difference to the plastic ending up in our seas.* 'The marine Conservation society estimates the UK uses up to 8.5 billion plastic straws every year which are among the top 10 items found in beach clean ups'. Plastic straws should be considered a serious problem to marine species survival: I've done recent beach clear-ups myself and can testify they are a common, harmful type of sea pollution. Plastic straws can travel long distances throughout the world's oceans, getting ingested by marine animals- taking up vital space in their stomachs that takes up increasing space for digesting food to eventually starve and kill them. Straws get tangled in seaweed beds in coastal waters where they will continue to accumulate like an off-shore rubbish dump if the supply isn't stopped for good. The EU is considering banning them this year, and asking Environment Minister, Michael Gove to align with EU member states in this- but Gove has been cautious and not clearly affirmed this- yet. A large lobby and petition to ban plastic straw sale and manufacture in the UK could decide the matter this year, to see a change in UK law to make them obsolete. * We recommend that cinemas keep a small number of plastic straws behind the counter for customers with medical conditions or disabilities who require one.
    218,744 of 300,000 Signatures
    Created by Julia Robinson
  • SOUTHERN WATER ABSTRACTION OF RIVERS TEST, ITCHEN AND CANDOVER
    Southern Water seek to gain Michael Gove’s approval to increase river abstraction to levels NEVER SEEN BEFORE. Climate change is exacerbating the situation. We desperately need alternative & timely options to supply public water. The internationally rare English chalk stream riverine habitats & their wildlife are now under severe threat from over abstraction, especially in times of drought. This could prove catastrophic for species such as the genetically unique chalk stream salmon, sea trout, or Hampshire’s last population of the rare native crayfish, let alone the rivers themselves & the livelihoods that depend upon them. We must stop Southern Water using a Public Inquiry to gain Michael Gove’s approval to increase river abstraction to potentially catastrophic and reprievable levels. They intend to sidestep the correct procedure and ride roughshod over our public bodies, which are there to safeguard our environment. Challenging Natural England’s advice & the EA's sustainable licensing to increase abstraction to ruinous levels on our precious chalk streams, in order to meet their corporate goals – profit. We desperately need alternative, sustainable and timely options to supply public water. Action NOW is essential to ensure our rivers are properly protected in the future. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Hampshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Hampshire, Salmon & Trout Conservation, Wild Trout Trust, Test and Itchen Association, Angling Trust and Fish Legal, and the Wessex Chalk streams and Rivers Trust, all oppose Southern Water’s position. HOW? Beginning 13th March, Southern Water through public inquiry are asking Michael Gove (Secretary of State) to approve their increased abstraction plans directly. If upheld, this will by-pass the normal procedures for obtaining an abstraction licence, and will not involve full public consultation including direct and fair engagement with river owners and users - an absolutely CRUCIAL involvement as there is so much at stake in these very complex decisions. SW are using ‘strong arm’ tactics in the Inquiry to make the EA use their legal powers to force river owners and users to co-operate. Some of these proposed actions are highly emotive and again deny the public the fair right to comment. WHAT OTHER DAMAGE COULD THIS CAUSE? Increasing populations and housing in Hampshire are greater than our natural water resources can now sustain. Demand has already exceeded the capacity our rivers and aquifers can supply. So at a time of water scarcity, on already over abstracted rivers, the threat is that SWS customers will be literally sucking the life out of the rivers Candover, Itchen and Test. This will deplete the river flows to levels that will devastate the natural aquatic environment. People will be watering their gardens as the flow of these rivers falls to dangerously unprecedented levels. Is this what people would want if they knew about it? THE SOLUTION - As we speak, Southern Water are preparing to publish a 'draft Water resources management plan' (and Drought Plan) for public consultation. They claim their plans will have a bold vision, with ambitious and innovative ways to secure the necessary alternative sources of supply to enable the Environment Agency’s licence changes to be made. These alternatives will be costly and include trading with Portsmouth Water, Havant Thicket Reservoir and a desalination plant in the Solent. That is what it will take to protect our Chalk streams from over abstraction. HOWEVER, SOUTHERN WATER WILL ONLY IMPLEMENT THESE AMBITIOUS NEW PLANS IF IT LOSES THE INQUIRY! If it wins then it may well in likelihood implement a shadow version... This Inquiry is Southern Water’s last-ditch attempt to cling onto its 40-year-old business model of over exploiting our chalk streams – one that generates a healthy profit margin at huge expense to the environment. TO CONCLUDE - No more stalling by this corporate Leviathan, which is investing large amounts of bill payers’ money on scientific models not fit for purpose to prove their 'case'. Instead they should be working together with and not against NGO’s, stakeholders, their clients and you the people to find alternative water supplies that will safeguard our rivers for generations to come. Please help support the EA's and NE's efforts to protect our rivers by signing our petition to ensure that Southern Water Services take note of their customers’ concerns for the sustainability and protection of these British gems. Many Thanks, Jim & Howard. "The proposed increase in water abstraction from the Test, Itchen & Candover will have a serious, if not disastrous, effect on the delicate balance of this unique ecosystem. We obviously need to meet the water needs of our ever-expanding population but there are less harmful ways to do this. The true chalk streams are only found in Britain (apart from a small presence in Normandy); we are custodians of these precious jewels & we owe it to our children and grandchildren not to undermine them" PAUL WHITEHOUSE - Comedian & fisherman. SW's turnover last year was approx £800 million, with a profit of more than £250 million. Their divis to corporate shareholders were somewhere over £100 million. Thankfully their operations and behaviour are now being scrutinised. See BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43139857 Documents for the public enquiry - http://www.hwa.uk.com/projects/itchen-candover-and-testwood-water-abstraction-inquiry/ Photo by Charles Rangeley Wilson
    5,787 of 6,000 Signatures
    Created by Jim Murray and Howard Taylor
  • Stop plastic forks in schools!
    This will help reduce the ever growing amount of plastic clogging up our planet. Think; there is over a 1000 students in my school. If we all use a plastic fork every day for a week that is 5000 plastic forks, then 20,000 a month, and in a school year that is an unimaginable amount of plastic .Think. Then imagine this all over the country. This is an unnecessary amount of plastic doomed to be lunch for an innocent sea creature. We have to stop this now and #STOPthePlasticTide because the health of the planet starts with us - the human race.
    283 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Katie Parker