Ecover has taken three of the top five places in the WWF Blue Mile Corporate Challenge, which saw hundreds of people swimming, kayaking and paddle-boarding in aid of the environment.

The event, which took place on Sunday September 4 at Stoke Newington Reservoir, aimed to raise awareness and funds to help preserve our marine and freshwater environments.

Hundreds of participants swam, kayaked, or paddle-boarded for one mile around the reservoir, and similar events took place across the country.

Ecover UK came second in the corporate challenge, just beaten by Scottish and Southern Energy, and two teams representing Ecover Belgium came fourth and fifth.

Celebrities took part too, including Jo Wood, three-time round-the-world sailor Conrad Humphreys, and Paul Rose, the presenter of ‘Oceans’ and ‘Britain’s Secret Seas’ for the BBC.

Paul said: "The oceans are the least understood ecosystem on the planet, and one of our most precious. They deserve our respect and protection.

"I’ve been diving in our waters since 1969 and I have seen first-hand that some areas have significantly less marine life than they used to. It’s not all doom and gloom though... WWF’s Blue Mile is a fantastic way of getting people to engage with our marine and freshwater habitats and a fun way to help protect these vital environments."

Rudy De Vis, speaking on behalf of Ecover before the event, said: "We are really proud to sponsor the Blue Mile campaign – it’s a project that we truly believe in and we are excited to be working with WWF to raise awareness of this crucial issue.

"The protection of our environment and waterways is a growing area of concern throughout the world and action needs to be taken. We support this wholeheartedly, so much so that Ecover teams will be taking part in the challenge on the day."

And those three places in the top five show just how seriously Ecover, the famed makers of environmentally friendly ecological detergents, took it. Well done for (almost) cleaning up!

[Image: Fin Fahey]