A dedicated group of volunteers in Plympton are part of a growing network of litter pickers across the city.
Inspired by the Clean Our Patch Community Litter Pickers, 45 people first met at Plympton Library two years ago with the aim of spring cleaning the centre of accumulated litter.
Two hours later, while enjoying coffee and cake, they were amazed to find that their efforts had resulted in the collection of 115 bags of litter!
From that beginning, a group of litter-pickers continued to meet regularly for a year or so, once a month for a couple of hours, varying the location so that they tackled different areas of Plympton.
On average they collected around 25 bags of litter, along with a variety of bigger abandoned items such as old prams, parts of cars, traffic cones and other rubbish.
The social side of the activity meant that their regular litter picks always culminated in coffee and cake, or sometimes a visit to a local hostelry for a good social chat.
Coronavirus put paid to the monthly meet-ups – but, so keen were the litter-pickers, that have have continued to pick litter individually, and, more recently in socially distanced couples.
Plympton Litter Pickers continue to collect impressive quantities of litter, both the everyday fast-food wrappings, drink cans and plastic bottles that abound, but are also finding very old rubbish in the undergrowth and hedgerows which sometimes is centimetres deep – swamping any growth of new wildflowers and plants and trapping wild-life.
Cathy Loft, who co-ordinates the group’s efforts along with Carolyn Hadji and Jenny Ayrton said:
“It is not uncommon for us to find small dead mammals that have been caught in a can or a bottle and drowned.
“Numerous fly-tips have been reported to the council and promptly cleared, and we have tackled quite a number of ‘grot spots’ around the area. On one occasion we needed a council truck to take away hundreds of empty beer bottles which were being added to daily!”
She added that 300 full dog poo bags have been removed from one place very recently, and, in that same week they had collected 900 dog poo bags around Plympton!
Cathy said:
“During the two years that we have been litter picking we have collected over 3,600 bags of litter, which equates to around 80 tonnes! We average 80 bags a week at the moment, which is an incredible achievement by our volunteers.”
As well as picking up litter, the group is becoming more proactive in its quest to maintain Plympton as somewhere to be proud of, by working alongside local shops, and obtaining evidence for the provision of additional bins, and working closely with Plymouth City Council to begin to tackle dog-fouling.
Cathy added:
“Litter-picking groups are springing up all over the country, and are achieving enormous success in their work, and litter-picking is finding a role as a leisure activity because it is such a rewarding thing to do, whilst providing exercise and is a great way of meeting with like-minded people.
“So, two years on, and going very strong. We always are very happy to welcome new members, of all ages, and are so looking forward to being able to meet together as a group again.”
For information or to join the group visit the Clean Our Patch page on Facebook.
