We were missing some of our ‘regulars’, but we made up for it with some ‘extras’. And we were joined briefly at the start by one of our founders who helpfully stocked us up with some extra supplies.
Huge thanks to everyone who took part in the event today, our regular August litterpick.
It was more of what we usually do, really. We progressed round and through the usual ‘hotspots’, picking up the usual range of litter and debris: cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles which went in the recycling bags, and condoms, condom foils, lube sachets, tissues and wet wipes in the ‘general rubbish’ bags.
With tenacious volunteers we know that we can be sure of the cleanest of litter picks. We want the woods to be good for everyone who uses them for whatever reason. Many, especially those with children, will view used condoms and the other sexual debris as offensive and that can lead to complaints. We want to avoid that so that horny cruising can go on uninterrupted.
Some of us know most of the ‘hotspots’ and it’s good to introduce others to them (strictly in the process of litterpicking, of course!). Soon we were amassing our loads.
There comes a point in our litterpicking sessions when we’ve collected so much litter that unless we return to the car park we’ll have to leave some of the sacks behind. So we do, and of course that’s a good opportunity to have a break for tea and coffee.
Always a good time to continue the banter. And to welcome another occasional litter-picker, and say farewell to one of our number who had to leave.
Then onward, with two groups heading off in different directions, aiming to get to the parts previous litterpickers hadn’t reached. We ranged far and wide. Again it was good to see that many of the bags we’ve left hanging on trees were being well-used. It still beats us why guys prefer to chuck their rubbish further away in the bushes than close-by in a rubbish sack.
And finally, having covered a very large area of the cruising ground, it was time to get all the sacks together, staple or tie them up, and place them for public display (and collection of course) beside the road. Another impressive load – the equivalent of 28 of our usual-sized rubbish sacks.
Was it something in the air, or was it just coincidence, that a number of positive comments were made about the OWL litterpicks today?!
Both as we were starting, and as we were finishing, passers-by specifically came over to thank us for our efforts. And two comments on Squirt, made by OWLs who couldn’t be with us today, also captured the moment:
“I’d recommend it to anyone who has a few hours to spare this morning. It’s not as nasty as it sounds, and actually we have quite a laugh at the madness of it all.”
“They do a fantastic job in keeping the forest areas as clear as possible from litter.”
We couldn’t agree more!
(Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)