Toxic Dips

The UK’s rivers are in crisis. A dip in our waters exposes us dangerous chemicals and pathogens that impact our health and lead to conditions like norovirus, rotavirus, E. coli and hepatitis. Now, swimming in a UK river means a 1 in 2 chance of getting sick. But not enough of us are paying attention.

To bring home the unhealthy truth of our waterways, we brought it into people’s homes, with Toxic Dips: a range of bath bombs inspired by three 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 fertilisers as its namesake river, immersing people in the contaminated reality of our waters and driving awareness of The Rivers’ Trust’s 2024 report on UK river health.

But the bath bombs themselves aren’t the only unusual media channel employed by the campaign. The bath bombs were also sold on eBay for £300,000.00 each, using the online auction house to highlight the fact that this was only 0.001% of the cost of cleaning up UK waters, and driving further PR engagement with the campaign.

With a 78% increase in visits to theriverstrust.org, and the report making appearances on the news and in parliament, the campaign is helping to turn the tide on water pollution.