Our Work
It all begins with a question: what happens to the water we rely on when it carries away the products and pollutants of everyday life?
At Brìgh Waters Collective, we focus on the often invisible links between consumer products, chemical use, and the health of rivers, lakes, and coastal ecosystems. Our work translates complex environmental science into clear, practical insights that support better decisions by individuals, communities, and organizations.We connect research with real-world impact. Drawing on marine and environmental science, we analyse how ingredients and contaminants move through water systems and affect ecosystems such as seagrass meadows. We then turn those findings into accessible resources, education, and decision-support tools that help people understand risk, compare options, and choose safer pathways for both water and human health.
How everyday shampoos affect underwater meadows
Our first project looked at what happens when the shampoos we use every day wash down the drain and reach the sea. We focused on seagrass (Zostera marina) – an underwater plant that stores carbon, stabilises shorelines and provides habitat for fish and invertebrates.
In controlled aquarium experiments, we exposed seagrass seeds and young plants to four different shampoos at concentrations similar to raw, partially treated and treated wastewater. Two were typical high-surfactant commercial shampoos; two were marketed as “greener” products with milder or plant-based ingredients.
We tracked seed germination, leaf growth, colour and photosynthetic performance as indicators of plant health. At higher shampoo levels, seagrass blades browned, became brittle and broke more easily, and many plants lost photosynthetic capacity. Seeds in shampoo treatments germinated less successfully, and those that germinated early often failed to develop healthy roots.
Overall, the study shows that personal care products in sewage and storm overflows can be a real stressor for coastal habitats, alongside better-known pressures like warming, nutrient pollution and physical damage. It highlights the need for:
better wastewater management and monitoring of product residues, and
clearer information and design standards so that the products we use on our bodies are also safer for the waters that support people, wildlife and coastal communities.
Our aim is to make water knowledge usable. Whether we are developing educational materials, advising on product impacts, or piloting concepts such as eco-labelling and testing frameworks, our work is grounded in evidence and designed for collaboration.
If engaging with Brìgh Waters leaves you better informed, more confident in your choices, and more aware of the shared responsibility we have to protect our waters, then we are achieving our purpose.