The Lakes Plastic Collective - Litter Picking and Reflection

Hours to date: 60 hours (complete)

10 hours - Litter picking.

 'The Lakes Plastic Collective' wasa set up as a response to the amount of litter and rubbish which was being left around the Lake District National Park during this summer. A local walker set up a Facebook page and Instagram account to highlight the problem and has been encouraging others to help in their local area. When Lockdown was lifted in the Summer weeks, there was a huge influx of visitors and tourists coming to the Lake District and the amount of rubbish increased including camping equipment being left, barbeques and disposable face masks.




 As rubbish can cause many problems for wildlife and humans alike I decided to use my last ten hours of  work experience to help them out in my local area by picking up litter when out walking and along my own stretch of road. (See picture 1 & 2). This was completed through Lockdown three so it will be interesting to see how the amount of rubbish increases after Lockdown ends again. 


Picture 1: Nitrous Oxide Canister on the roadside (Photo by D. Lock)



Picture 2: Two large bags of rubbish from just a half mile stretch. (Photo by D.Lock)


Reflections

This activity has taught me the extent of the litter problem, as can be seen in the pictures above. There were not only cans, bottles, crisp packets but also things like the gas cannisters, broken glass, plastic cord etc which is a huge risk to animals living in those areas. As humans we should be doing more to look after our environment and other habitats. 

The Lakes Plastic Collective are doing a good job in making people more aware and encouraging others to go out and look after their local areas. Although I was unable to work as a group at the moment, I hope this will bring people together after Lockdown to tackle larger areas in the Lake District. 

One aspect of this activity was using the knowledge about Health and Safety which we covered in our Skills Audit. I worked along a reasonably busy road at times so had someone with me at all times to keep an eye on traffic, wore Hi Viz vests and also made sure to use gloves and 'pickers' with thick rubbish bags to put broken glass etc into. 

 References

The Lakes Plastic Collective, (2020). https://www.facebook.com/The-Lakes-Plastic-Collective-103391254958328. Viewed 20/02/2021.

 


 

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