LONDON, UK — Ahead of World Nature Conservation Day on July 28, The Rivers Trust is taking to eBay to highlight the plight of the UK’s rivers, selling “Toxic Dips” — the world’s most expensive bath bombs, priced at £300,000 for a set. Created in partnership with FCB Health London, an IPG Health company, the price tag is just 0.005% of the total estimated amount (£5.3 billion) needed to prevent UK rivers from deteriorating further over the next five years.
Despite the excessive price tag, these aren’t desirable bath bombs. Named after some of the UK’s most polluted waterways — Tainted Tamar, Septic Severn, and Rancid Roding — each “Toxic Dip” bath bomb contains the same unique mixture of raw sewage, pesticides, microplastics, urban waste, and fertilizers as its namesake river. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the toxic, harmful reality of the UK’s contaminated waterways by bringing it into people’s homes.
The eBay listing links to toxicdips.com, a campaign website offering further information about Toxic Dips and the environmental challenges that inspired them. People can learn about the state of the UK’s rivers and donate the cost of real-life bath bombs (£5 for a single bath bomb or £15 for a set of three) to The Rivers’ Trust. Donations support The Rivers’ Trust’s work in strengthening the resilience of our waterways and bringing them back to health, for us, and for nature.
According to The Rivers Trust’s “State of our Rivers Report 2024,” no single stretch of river in England or Northern Ireland is in good overall health. Toxic chemicals that impact human and environmental health contaminate every stretch of the English River. River users are exposed to harmful chemicals and pathogens from raw sewage, resulting in conditions such as norovirus, rotavirus, and even E. coli and hepatitis.
The impact of this pollution affects us all. A recent Wildlife and Countryside Link report testing the blood and hair of leading MPs and environmentalists found PFAS or “forever chemicals” and hormone-disrupting “everywhere chemicals” in every sample.
Emma Brisdion, Marketing and Campaigns Lead at The Rivers Trust, said, “We don’t expect anyone to actually buy these bath bombs, but we do hope that they bring attention to the true extent and cost of UK river pollution. With open water swimming and other water sports growing in popularity, and an increasing awareness of the link between nature and wellbeing, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that our waterways are pollution-free for everyone to safely enjoy. We want to educate people about the steps they can take to protect our rivers.”
Christian Louzado from FCB Health London said: “The River Trust’s recent report helps to expose the true extent of our rivers, and we wanted to help raise awareness of this public health issue. ‘Toxic Dips’ serves as an illustration of this issue which we hope will educate a wider audience and garner support from the British public. Anything we can do to help improve the health of our waterways and prevent unnecessary illness will be a huge achievement in our eyes.”
