

When we cleaned Donkey Field in February, we found 18 bags of rubbish and recycling; this weekend’s haul was 6 bags of general rubbish and 4 of recycling (13 glass bottles, 55 plastic bottles, and 68 aluminium cans).
The undergrowth was blamed by our volunteers for stopping them from finding more, but the optimist in me would like to think that perhaps regular clean ups and the highly publicized anti-plastic movement is starting to have an effect.
And what was found was pretty impressive: a shopping trolley, rather large bits of metal, and netting that is incredibly dangerous to wildlife (any netting that you can poke your finger through should be avoided; see this page for safe examples – yes, it’s Australia, but the idea is the same for our backyard birds).
One thing that hadn’t changed from February was the amount of dog poo. We used an eco chalk-based paint to spray the mess pink: this makes it easier for others to see (and avoid walking), and sends the message to the culprits that their lack of bagging and binning IS noticed. It is an idea that has been tried in other areas with some success, so we figured it was worth giving it a shot in Chippenham.

If you’re interested in coming along to our next clean up in July, please sign up to join the mailing list or drop me a line so I can add you. We’ll be carrying out an “unofficial” litter pick that we can’t advertise publicly, but here’s a hint – bring your wellies!


