Author Archives: Neil Frost

Another excellent day to be out in the woods – and we weren’t alone. A number of other guys had felt that it was the right weather to wander around the woods and into the bushes! Well why not?!

At the start we had just three willing volunteers. But with experienced litterpickers good progress was made through the woods, paying particular attention to the various hotspots.

Of course, there’s always time to stop for a picture to be taken!

Someone has littered the woods with green bags. Maybe helpful, maybe inappropriate. As long as it means there will be less litter thrown on the ground do we care?! Although it’s not one of our bags OWL certainly agreed with the sentiments someone has written on this bag.

Although at first glance it looked like there wouldn’t be much for us to collect – maybe someone had been round litterpicking recently – our sacks were soon brimming and it wasn’t long before we had to return to base to drop the full sacks off.

Which of course means its refreshment time. Always welcome. Always ample.

Then on for more of the same. It might sound tedious but it’s actually quite rewarding to know that we are clearing up litter that might otherwise offend people. And if, within our volunteers, there are those who have made good use of the Snaresbrook Woods in the past, why not put something back?!

Apart from the curiosity about the various strange items we’ve found in the past (see previous posts) one thing that interests us is the way guys dispose of their sexual debris. Some just chuck it anywhere; some hang used condoms on branches for all to see (are we supposed to be impressed?); some take their litter and put it in the nearest bag or bin. We’ve seen a very welcome increase in the number of considerate guys who are now showing care in the way they get rid of their post-shag rubbish.

One of the hotspots, Dirty Den (well, everywhere has to have a name!) used to be strewn with condoms, lube sachets and tissues each time we visited. Today the rubbish bag had been used and there was nothing we needed to pick up. RESULT!  Thank you.

By now we’d been joined by two further enthusiastic litterpickers, taking our merry band up to five skilled workers in total.

The session after our refreshments was as productive as the one before and we ended up with a total of 10 sacks of recycling rubbish (mainly bottles and cans) and 17 of general rubbish (much of it being used condoms, lube sachets, tissues and wipes – grrrr – they don’t degrade!).

As has become the tradition at the end of a litterpicking session, some of our volunteers felt they needed to check the quality of the morning’s work by undertaking Quality Assurance checks throughout the woods. There’s nothing like being assured of a bit of quality in the woods after a litterpicking session!

 (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)

A fine day to be out in the woods – sunny, warm and dry. Unfortunately several of our regular ‘OWLs’ weren’t able to be there. In fact, even on such a good day for cruising in the woods there weren’t many guys about.

Nevertheless there was a reliable band of guys willing to get stuck in to litterpicking.

Safety briefing over, it was off with litterpickers and rubbish sacks to deal with the inevitable mix of bottles and cans, used condoms, lube sachets, and other sexual debris abandoned along the paths and in the Hot Spots.

In fact, the Hot Spots were only lukewarm! Some of them had already been spring-cleaned using the ‘brush everything – leaves, twigs, condom and sachets – into a pile and scoop it all up’ technique. Good at colllecting the obvious stuff but lots of sexual debris gets left behind (for the OWLs to deal with). Nevertheless, every little helps.

The OWLS are well-versed at moving strategically through the woods – including when they are litterpicking! Steady progress was made.

It’s quite normal for nature to call while in the woods. Look carefully to see a stream of ‘piss’ on the far side of the tree. This OWL has a long reach! Anyone into Watersports?!!

With a good haul of litter already collected it was time for our well-earned refreshments, a chat and a joke or two.

Then off to deal with some other areas. We’re pleased that most of the ‘permanent’ bags that we’d put up are being well-used. Thanks to those who are choosing to put their rubbish in one of these rubbish bags, or in the bin. It’s just as easy as throwing it on the ground.

Oh yes, that Owl having a piss in the woods. Not all is as it might have seemed. What a hoot!!!!!

Two teams continued working on different areas, eventually returning to base to tie up the bags and display them carefully, ready for collection from the roadside.

Despite there being less litter around, nevertheless it was another impressive haul – 27 of our usual sized bags (including 10 bags of recycling).

Thanks, guys.

 (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)

A change of day this month (we usually litterpick on the second Tuesday of the month), but it suited our lovely band of volunteers, all of whom were there at the start, or soon after as a result of heavy traffic, to get stuck in to some serious work.

Safety briefing over, we seemed to go our separate ways rather more than usual. This was potentially going to be a ‘lone working’ litterpick. During the morning we came across a number of items possibly more diverse than we’ve seen lately. More of that later.

It wasn’t long before our OWLs were filling their sacks with litter ranging from litter that anyone might have thrown away to items that it seemed obvious would only have been discarded by guys cruising in the woods.

lovingly handmade – but not so lovingly discarded

Lost a phone? The case is still there – ironically near the fuck tree where many must stop dreaming and experience reality.

Sadly there was no phone inside.

Good progress was made with a few of our group eventually joining up and working together.

Good to see that ‘a packet of three’ is still in use!

Then, with time the enemy marching on, we were ready for a break from litterpicking and time for the traditional refreshments.

After our break – during which there are always interesting and humorous tales recounted – it was off for more, with our excellent volunteers ensuring that they covered as much of the area, including as many of the ‘hotspots’, as possible.

Rubbish sacks we’ve left in some of the hotspots are being well-used and needing occasional replacement.

We are used to finding unusual items – though in this case it begs the question – Is this unusual for this location?

sadly the batteries were flat!

Lost some car keys? Might these be yours? They are (were) on the top of the litter bin in the car park.

All good things must come to an end – although so keen was one of our volunteers that we had to go searching for him. (And he’s taken some litter sacks and a litter picker so that he can do some more work before our next ‘official’ OWL litterpick).

What a fantastic total – a record-breaker – the equivalent of 52 of our usual-size rubbish sacks, including 21 bags of recycling.

 (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)

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)