One man and his dog are keeping a
quiet corner of Hambleton clean.
Every day Paul Richardson and Molly trawl the
open land around their home near Thirsk collecting everything from
car parts to cans and bottles.
Draughtsman, Paul began litter picking around
Sowerby Flatts three years ago after becoming a Voluntary Ranger
for the North York Moors – fed up with seeing litter clogging up
the hedgebacks he decided to take matters into his own hands.
“Every lunchtime - and after work - I don my
Wellingtons and along with Molly set off to do my bit to keep the
community clean – sad to say it’s now become a part of our daily
routine and we really look forward to the outings,” he said.
“Getting fresh air, exercise and a chat to
passers by, the walking and litter picking lets me unwind from work
as well as keeping the local area nice and clean. I fill four
plastic dustbins with lager bottles / cans and plastic bottles
before having a recycling day at Thirsk Recycling Centre.”
Hambleton and Richmondshire District Councils
started a community litter picking campaign five years ago and now
have over 30 groups or individuals working across the two
areas.
“We need more people like Paul to give up
their time to keep their corner of the community clean,” said John
Proud, Street Scene Manager.
“Thanks to his efforts and our other volunteer
groups, areas previously blighted by litter have been greatly
improved. But we want to see more communities establishing
litter picking teams to undertake regular clean ups - taking part
in a tidy up can be used to work towards a variety of badges for
brownies, scouts, guides and beavers.
“We can provide litter picking equipment -
gloves, fluorescent vests, litter tongs and bags can be borrowed –
and all amassed waste will be collected by the street scene
team.”
Anyone wanting to set up a community
litter pick should contact: John Proud on streets@hambleton.gov.uk
or streetscenee@richmondshire.gov.uk
in the first instance
- Keep Britain Tidy estimate that in the UK
alone 25 million tones of litter is dropped every year – almost
entirely made up of food and drink packing and the equivalent in
weight to 62,500 jumbo jets
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