We win some and we lose some! Today we were winners. Not only did the rain hold off, making litterpicking a lot more bearable, but someone seemed to have visited some of the areas we routinely clear up and made a pretty reasonable job of it. What’s not to like?! (well actually, what we don’t like – and nor do the Epping Forest Wardens – is the random hanging up of green ‘Waltham Forest’ recycling rubbish sacks; they look a mess, there are far too many of them; foxes tear them open; they blow about; they don’t get emptied)!
As usual we set off with enthusiasm and determination along our usual route.
It’s always good to come across areas where rather than chuck litter away on the ground it’s been thrown in the rubbish sacks that have been put there for just that purpose.
The work of others meant that in many places we could just do the final bits of tidying up and move on – making progress much faster. And as usual leaving time for us to study some of the more unusual litter (not featured here, but a giant bottle of mouthwash suggested an adherence to very high standards of oral hygiene!)
The OWLS (OUT With Litter) pride themselves on knowing the majority of the ‘hot spots’ – places most likely to be used for sexual encounters. And, sadly, not all of them are used by people who are considerate in using the rubbish sacks, preferring just to throw their rubbish on the ground. Here’s a ‘before’ and ‘after’
Before
After
With much of the area of the cruising ground covered a welcome break for friendly refreshments.
Then on to more distant parts, ensuring that the majority of ‘hot spots’ had been cleared up and that all of the ‘permanent’ rubbish sacks, left discretely for after-shag use, had been emptied and replaced.
And finally back to base
Time to staple the bags up, to prevent them being emptied before collection, and then the arrangement at the roadside ready for collection by our Epping Forest warden friends.
Then either departure for home, or an opportunity for some quality control (not necessarily of the litterpicking variety…!) or time to do a bit of maintenance on some of the ‘permanent’ bags.
(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)