Litter picking..?

[lightweightmick]

Anyone else a compulsive litter picker?
Did two miles with the dogs earlier and returned with a carrier bag full (pulled the bag out of the hedge at that) - much of it historic litter - ie. been there a long time - the fresh stuff I picked up with a twig...

We have voluntary pickers here but they only do roadside picking, so I leave them piles in two locations. Today's pick was lane and footpath onto the former railway trackbed which they don't cover.

I try not to when running but just can't help it at times... even on the bike-hike Coast to Coast I found myself braking to a halt and backing up to get the odd wrapper... I'd empty the front of the bar bag out at the end of the day where possible.

My theory is that there are only a few that litter (accidental or deliberate) so if we all brought just a bit back we could collectively redress the balance..?
I'm sure the topic will have been covered before, but..? What say you?

[sunnydale]

I often litter pick when out walking, especially if I’m in an area classed as a nature reserve.
A few members of the walking group I’m in do it too

[lightweightmick]

I often litter pick when out walking, especially if I’m in an area classed as a nature reserve.
A few members of the walking group I’m in do it too

Good to hear!

[Percy]

Yes, I pick up litter when I'm out walking. I've come back with all sorts of stuff.


The number of water bottles you see that have obviously been discarded when empty is shocking, exactly how much do they weigh?


Largest item brought off the hills was a broken walking pole which had been chucked.


It's usually the aforementioned water bottles and crisp packets that I find.


A friend recently went out in Dovedale specifically to pick litter - two bins liners she filled.

[SteamyTea]

David Sedaris is a litter picker


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p02yd4n9


If you do it while running, the Swedes call it Plogging


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plogging

[Percy]

David Sedaris is a litter picker


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p02yd4n9

Sussex Council named a bin lorry after him, didn't they?


We have tickets to see him in June but don't expect that'll happen.

[Ridge]

I pick up litter if I am in the hills and it is relatively clean and dry as it is going in my rucksack.
If I litter-picked locally I wouldn't be able to walk for the weight.


Best ever litter was a box of cereal bars found in the Lakes, turned out to be full. I hope some other walker didn't go hungry.

[Jac]

If I litter-picked locally I wouldn't be able to walk for the weight.

I live on the edge of a city and there seems to be an increase in dumping. Walking the same routes I am finding newly ditched sacks of stuff most of which looks like household waste. A large heap of clothing left on the pavement beside the locked Salvation Army clothing bank had been removed by the time I walked back. The tip/recycling centre is closed, of course, but household collection including garden waste is as normal so much of this is inexplicable - especially the bags I saw yesterday which had been carefully sorted into glass/tins/paper and then just dumped just off the road in the brambles.

[ninthace]

I collect litter.  I have a hedge at the front of my house specifically for the purpose.  It saves the people who come out of the sports club up the road and the local youth from having to carry their cans, crisp packets etc as far as the litter bin just down the street.  I regard it as a public service and rejoice in having to reach in amongst the various species of thorny shrub that constitute my hedge, to extract whatever it is so I can put it in my bin.

[mananddog]

I usually pick litter on my daily walks but in view of recent events I have stopped. Picking up people's cola and beer cans it not a safe thing to do.

[SteamyTea]

I picked up a bike for a girlfriend, it had a note on it saying 'free to good home' (still got bike, girlfriend long gone, but she left her walking boots (Merrells), pair of socks and a portable massage table, oh, and a laptop.  Think I better eBay them).
It is a good bike, but not as good as the Scott that was dumped around the back of our shop.  That is doing good service on the trainer.

[fernman]

Sorry to say you'd need a tipper truck around here 
Saw tons of stuff on grass verges, in the "footpath" that connects two roads and under the open railway arch when I went out for bread yesterday.
One thing lockdown hasn't restricted is flytipping.

[Percy]

One thing lockdown hasn't restricted is flytipping.

I imagine it’ll get much worse. All the council tips round here are closed.

[SteamyTea]

I imagine it’ll get much worse. All the council tips round here are closed.

Has it [censored], my dreadful neighbour is just dumping it in the street.  3 chairs have been there for weeks, now he has taken down his shed, pulled up the concrete base and dumped that.

[taxino8]

Yes, me too.
I cannot walk past anything in the countryside without popping it into my rucksack or pocket.
I have never been able to comprehend why people discard it in the first place.