The new litter picking group had its first outing on Sunday 27 September. Families came along, children included, and between us we covered the estate and the ground around it.
How the morning ran
- Met 9.40am
- First Signed the waivers
- Kit A litter picker, gloves and a high-vis top each
- Routes Given out by Jan
We met at 9.40am. Everyone signed a waiver first, then collected a litter picker, a pair of gloves and a high-vis top. Jan, who has organised the group, then gave each of us a route, so that every stretch was covered once and nobody spent the morning picking over somebody else's ground.
The routes took in the paths and verges around the estate as well as the estate itself, including the grass by the sales suite.
What we collected
By the end of the morning the pile had grown to at least six full sacks. Most of it was the everyday stuff that gathers along any path: plastic drinks bottles, sweet and snack wrappers, and the general small litter that blows into hedges and settles under leaves.
Two finds would not fit in a sack. One was a heap of broken pieces of heavy black plastic; the other a galvanised steel plate with a slot cut through it. Both look like leftovers from building work rather than anything dropped on a walk, and they went on the pile with everything else.
More than 70 bottles in one hedge
The find of the morning was in the hedge between The Erme Primary School and Stowford Mill: upwards of 70 empty mini bottles of Campo Viejo Rioja, all the same, all in the same stretch of hedge.
That many of one bottle in one place is not passing litter. It looks like one person doing the same thing again and again. Our best guess is somebody on their way home from the pub, finishing a bottle at about that point and tossing it into the hedge.
It is a habit, it is glass, and it is right beside a primary school. We would like it to stop, and we are keeping an eye on that stretch. If you have seen anyone dropping bottles there, please tell the committee rather than tackling it yourself.
Thank you
Thank you to Jan for organising it, and to everyone who gave up a Sunday morning. It is a small thing to do, but it is very visible, and it is the kind of thing a residents' association is for.
Come to the next one
The group will run again, and the next date will go out in the residents' WhatsApp group and on the community page. The equipment is provided, so all you need is a couple of hours and sensible shoes. Message Jan in the WhatsApp group if you would like to come, or contact the committee.