Rubbish Roundup 22nd June

Rubbish Roundup 22^nd June

A yoga teacher from Kent is set to paddle board 28 miles along the Royal Military Canal, and she’ll be picking up litter as she goes. India Pearson will be recording her journey via the Plastic Patrol app, which allows people to submit data as part of the world’s biggest survey of inland plastic pollution. The data is then used to approach brands who are identified as being part of the problem.

She walks her dog along her local beach every day as well as paddle boarding and teaching Paddle Board Yoga, and while doing these activities, she has become aware of the extent of the plastic pollution problem.

She is doing the 28-mile challenge to raise funds for a Beach Clean Board, which will be erected to inspire people to do their bit and do a #2MinuteBeachClean, then share it on social media.

Litter has increased following the easing of the lockdown restrictions, but litter louts in North East Lincolnshire need to be on their best behaviour because litter and dog fouling patrols are set to start again.

Enforcement officers will be patrolling Grimsby town centre, Cleethorpes seafront, and some of the area’s biggest parks following an increase in littering in recent weeks.

A council spokesperson said that piles of cans, bottles, nappies, discarded PPE, and other litter has become a problem in the past few weeks and added that there was no excuse for littering. He pointed out that North East Lincolnshire has more than 800 litter bins and that there are 50 on the promenade at Cleethorpes alone.

Private litter patrols were brought in back in 2017, after a public consultation where the vast majority of people said that they wanted the council to be tougher on litter.

Litter is more than just an unsightly health risk, it can be very harmful for animals too. Statistics released by the RSPCA in Lancashire showed that officers responded to more than 600 calls over the past five years relating to animals being harmed by litter. In Greater Manchester, officers responded to 906 calls.

Over the past five years, the RSPCA’s hotline in England and Wales has received almost 6,500 calls about animals affected by litter like tin cans, plastic bottles, and elastic bands. There were also a staggering 15,183 reports about animals getting injured or caught in angling litter and over 12,900 calls about animals being trapped in netting.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said that litter is one of the biggest hazards that our wildlife faces today, yet it’s completely preventable. He added that this is why with the easing of the lockdown restrictions, the charity are calling on people to take their litter home after their picnics or day at the beach. The RSPCA has also asked the public to pick up some litter safely if they can and either take it home or put it in the bin; it’s simple, but it could save an animal’s life.

The charity is also very concerned about angling litter like discarded fishing lines and plastic netting. The spokesperson commented that while many anglers do dispose of their litter properly, some don’t and they don’t realise how dangerous this is to animals.

The charity is urging anglers to make sure they leave nothing behind and dispose of their waste tackle through the Angling Trust Take 5 campaign.