Around a kilogram of litter picked up during a 1km walk round my local area !!
After being inspired by @quinneaker who has been doing daily litter picks for the past 10+ years, I decided to purchase a litter picking tool so rather than moan about the amount of rubbish and litter in the streets, I would actually do something about it. The idea is that if me and my family regularly pick up litter and are seen to be doing so, perhaps other people might be inspired to do the same. One thing is for sure, there is more chance of inspiring people to take action by setting an example rather than simply moaning about it which I have spent most of my life doing.
The litter picker arrived a few days ago and I had yet to use it so yesterday when it came to 18:00 and I had to pick the kids up from youth club I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. The club is 0.5 km (0.3 miles) away from my house so I didn't think I would find too much litter in only a km round trip but I was surprised at how much I got.
I had picked up a fair bit of rubbish when I arrived at the youth club and the kids were surprised to see me with my litter picker and black rubbish bag in my hand. When I asked if they wanted to try using the litter picking tool, initially they were both reluctant but it didn't take long to get them interested after I used a bit of reverse psychology and told them that they probably wouldn't be able to pick up the smaller items anyway because it took a bit of skill ;-)
My daughter was more keen than my son so she had a go first and within a few minutes my son was asking when he could have a go. They went from both not wanting to pick up litter to arguing about who was going to use the litter picker within the space of about three minutes and when my daughter finally agreed to relinquish her head litter picking role, my son insisted that he wanted to collect the litter the rest of the way home, and when we got home he asked if we could continue further on down the street. What a result !!!
As he was dutifully picking up a crisp packet from the side of the road and I stood next to him with my black bag in hand ready to receive the litter, a lady walked past with a smile on her face and I heard her mutter to herself under her breath, "That's nice". This simple gesture from a lady I had never met before really inspired me and put a smile on my face for the rest of the evening (and right now as I am thinking about it while writing this). Weather permitting, we will be picking up litter again tonight and whenever we go on walks in the future.
Here's a picture of my son in mid pick.
Here's a picture of the rubbish we collected. You can't really see it too well in the picture, but to get that much litter from such a short walk along a single road is pretty sad
Thanks for reading.
Stay safe
Jim
Hi Jim!
I am totally inspired by your family
I have recently join a "beach cleaning team" and the experience has been ... I don´t know how to describe... rewarding but also very sad...
After we managed to pick up 100kg of microplastics we were told no-one wanted to take care of it (Goverment and private cleaning companies with contracts with goverment) so we had to stop.
Picking up 100kg of micro-plastics from the beach you love is a seriours task only driven by many, many people getting toguether with their own tools and hands.
At the same time, I work in a coffee shop so you can imagine how much plastic I see being badly used and throwed away... it breaks my heart...
My @surfchica blog about cleaning el Poris, Tenerife
Thanks for taking the time to reply with such kind comments.
We collected 1kg of easily picked up street rubbish .You and your fellow lovers of planet/mother earth collected one hundred times that of microplastics !! A serious task indeed. It shows how broken (by design) the system is that you were unable to dispose of the microplastic. Disgusting !!
People need to start doing more for themselves and make the forms of government we have now redundant. Governments don't work for us and those that pull their strings do not care about us or the planet. This should be obvious to people from what they see, read or hear, even from the controlled mainstream media, but the fact that most people are blissfully ignorant of the way the world/system works and continue to consume and destroy their own futures, shows just how effective the brainwashing, social engineering and propaganda is and has been.
Your experience with government has been shared by millions around the world who try to help the planet and set an example for others. People who plant vegetables in their front gardens for example and are told to remove them by local councils, or people being threatened with arrest if they feed homeless people.
Most people are kind and want to help but we have been distracted and divided and made to fear and distrust one another. It's sickening really, how far down a dark path, humanity has been led, and how easily their consent for so many things has been manufactured. I live in hope that enough people will come to their senses before it is too late.
Sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent then.
I'll check out the blog you linked in a moment,
Thanks again
Jim
A very thoughtful thing to do buddy. Every time I go to the beach I always pick up atleast 20 bits of plastic and put them in the recycling. The Mrs asks me why I'm doing and that I won't make a difference. Then fell her - if I do it and 1 other does it, then 2 more do it, and then 2 more do it........ Before long everyone is doing it and then it will be worth doing.
#dontjustmoandosomethingaboutit
Exactly !!!
It's always encouraging to know there are others out there. If only 1% of people did it globally it would make a huge difference. Actually, I wonder how many people in the world do regularly pick up litter. Would it be over 1% of the population I wonder?
#dontjustmoandosomethingaboutit
This is my kids' latest favourite activity! They love their litter pickers, keeps them busy in parks when they're done playing, and we love leaving places cleaner than we found them!
You definitely need one litter picker each though, to avoid unnecessary arguments ;)
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Thanks for taking the time to reply and sorry for the delay in mine. It does feel good to leave a place cleaner than we find it and it is encouraging too when people come up to the kids and say "Well Done". You are absolutely right about needing two litter pickers. I've ordered another and am waiting for it to arrive.
Stay safe
Great! This is what every human should do. If every one of us picks up trash for just 3-5 minutes a day, our world will look so different ) My family and I do this when we spend time outdoors in nature and come across those horribly polluted camping spots or just random pieces of trash. Great decision to do it in the city as well. It’s so true we all constantly complain about the government, but doing things differently people themselves can start governing some aspects of life, and much more effectively.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. You are absolutely right and I wish I had started picking up litter years ago to set an example to others instead of just moaning and relying on local councils and governments to do it. We should all be governing ourselves and if more people did they would realise just how terrible government in the form we have it is ,and how much better things would be if people took more responsibility rather than allow governments to do things for them.
Man, you are SUCH a good dooby! Truly. Salt of the Earth, brother. So glad to count you among my cyberfriends!
Thanks man. The feeling in mutual. While I remember, there was a good post earlier from @ura-soul on aluminium and vaccines and their possible link to Alzheimers and autism.
He's a good witness!
I'll check it out.
Have a great sunny South-of-England day, my friend! Snow is even leaving here, finally...
Thank you for investing in the @bankofwelshie. You have received a 100% upvote for being a smart investor
Sweet! Killer job! So much trash that it's nice to see it cleaned. I should write a post but am. Too busy having to clean my spots to take or write posts...
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Bravo @jimbobbill! Resteemed with pleasure :)
Top effort :)
I read the title as A kilogram of litre and had a little metric overdose.
Thanks Matt. Appreciated.
Sorry I took so long to reply.