Plastic Fishing
Come aboard the world's first 99% recycled boats in a unique team building and employee volunteering based in London. Join us for a one-of-a-kind litter-picking trip. Your group will have the chance to learn about and tackle plastic pollution whilst getting out on the water ‘fishing’ for plastic. We use the plastic collected from trips to build more boats, making Plastic Fishing the perfect example of the circular economy in action.
Since 2017 Hubbub have taken more than 10,000 volunteers Plastic Fishing in the London Docklands, from school groups to local and international businesses. We have since donated Plastic Fishing boats to the Wildlife Trust in Birmingham and Sustainable Hive in Bristol.
Why are we fishing for plastic?
Did you know that 80% of the litter in our oceans gets there from land through our rivers and waterways? (Eunomia, 2016). Much of this is single-use plastic items such as food and drink packaging, cotton buds and wet wipes. Plastics in our waterways can harm wildlife or breakdown into tiny pieces of plastics, known as microplastics. Microplastics take even longer to breakdown, and continue to harm sea life, and even finds itself back onto land and our plates, and in our water – though the long-term impact on our health is unknown.
Plastic Fishing brings the issue to life , giving everyone onboard a positive and impactful way to take action. To find out more, read about our London-based trips below or email us at plasticfishing@hubbub.org.uk, and a member of the team will be in touch.
How can businesses get involved?
Hubbub runs Plastic Fishing sessions Monday to Friday all year round in the London Docklands for groups of 16 to 66 people.
Smaller groups:16-33 people: trips run for 2 and half hours and include safety and litter-picking equipment, certified skippers, access to DSWC's facilities and our 99% recycled plastic, electric-powered boats.
Larger groups 34-66 people: trips are 4–hours and include all features of the smaller group trips, plus. larger groups will have an interactive workshop where teams learn more about the issue, and what they can do beyond Plastic Fishing.
What does it cost?
- Sessions for 16-22 people: £1,500 + VAT per afternoon.
- Sessions for 23-33 people: £2,000 + VAT per afternoon.
- Sessions for 34-44 people: £2,600 + VAT per afternoon.
- Sessions for 45-66 people: £3,600 + VAT per afternoon.
We can offer discounts for bookings of 5 or more trips. Have extra requests? Please include these in your email and we will do our best to accommodate you.
What difference have we made?
As of January 2025:
- More than 10,000 people have been Plastic Fishing in London
- Together collecting over 8,400 plastic bottles from London's Docklands
- Collecting almost 1,000kg of recyclable plastic.
In London, the average adult consumes 3.37 plastic water bottles a week (One Less). After Plastic Fishing, 90% of participants have pledged not to buy a plastic bottle for at least a month.
With support from City Bridge Trust, we've created an education kit which is freely available for schools across the UK to download and use (see below!)
In 2019, Plastic Fishing became a nationwide phenomenon with a UK Plastic Fishing Tour.
Over the years, thousands of pounds from Plastic Fishing have also been donated to Canary Wharf College, going towards giving schoolchildren access to nature-based activities.
From bottle to boat
The Plastic Fishing boats are constructed by Mark Edwards (boat builder to Royalty) out of a modern material called Plaswood. Plaswood is made from 99% recycled plastic and had never been used to build a boat before. Every time the boats go out on the water, volunteers collect more plastic bottles from the Docklands which can then be recycled to make more boats.
Plastic Fishing for schools
Unfortunately, we don’t currently have funding for school Plastic Fishing trips. However, companies are welcome to sponsor local London-based schools to join us. Are you a company who would like to fund Plastic Fishing for schools? Or are you a school who would like to be added to the waiting list for a trip? Get in touch to find out more.
The Plastic Fishing Education Kit brings Plastic Fishing to life in classrooms across the UK, where the boats can’t reach. Designed for primary school children in KS2 years (aged 9-11), the kit contains a teaching guide with lesson plans, a video and activity sheets which are freely available for teachers to download and use.
Supporters
With thanks to the City Bridge Trust, Tideway London, Starbucks and Kiehl's.
If you would like to come Plastic Fishing, sponsor a school trip or have any questions, please do get in touch below.
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