Northampton and Moulton Wombles Litter Pick (Boughton Lane)

 

In my last blog write up I mentioned the blot on the landscape that is litter pollution, and fly tipping. That was on a stretch of the 'Shakespeare's Avon Way close to the Vale of Evesham. As a result I decided to do something positive to contribute, a little closer to home.    

I have followed the excellent work of 'Northampton Wombles' on Facebook for quite a while. I hadn't realised that there was also a 'Moulton Wombles in existence too. I noticed a lady out on Boughton Lane last weekend litter picking on her own. A 'call to arms' against the litter was issued.This was the opportunity for me to get involved. Thankfully the weather had calmed, and most of the snow had thawed as we gathered on Moulton Park Industrial Estate.There has been a blizzard blowing the last couple of mornings leaving a white carpet. I'm taking no chances despite the forecast being decent. The sun has even put in an appearance, the signs are good so far. 

Layers and layers of buried of Wood

Things started off nice and sedately. I was given a very fetching orange 'Moulton Wombles Tabard. I just about managed to squeeze it on over the many layers I was wearing. Gradually fellow Wombles, old and new began to arrive on the scene. Armed with my grabber and a purple bin liner I set about picking up various small items. These mostly consisted of cans, bottles , crisp wrappers and fast food outlets packaging. It was quite pleasant and I met a few people I knew already.   Venturing deeper into the undergrowth the picture changed quite dramatically........

The amount of larger items dump was really quite staggering. These included; mattresses, sofas, chairs, doors, office furniture, tyres and all sorts of other rubbish you could think of. All soaking wet, and totally filthy after laying dormant for so long. It became apparent that there had been some heavy duty 'Fly tipping' on a grand scale. Much of which was wood, layer after layer of off cuts. I can only imagine a flat bed truck has reversed up to the edge and emptied it's contents at some stage. It has all got embedded in the mud over time and a nightmare to release. The large items all had to be rolled up a steep and slippy bank to get to the collection point. Myself, and a chap called 'Vijay' undertook this energy sapping task.  

We must have had around 16-18 volunteers and the bags were beginning to mount up very quickly. The purple bags signify that it is an organised litter pick. The council will have been notified and will collect and then dispose of accordingly. From what I can tell there seem to be three types of litter offenders.The first being the lazy types who throw cans, fast food packaging from their cars. I would also include the people on foot who don't bother with bins and dump cans , wrappers and bottles into this category. The second category is the sort of person with a rubbish bag, or a large item they wish to dispose of without going to a council refuge depot. The third culprit is the van owner, maybe work waste? Who then dumps rubbish on an industrial scale. Some of this will be for financial reasons of course. There are costs involved in disposing of rubbish. Skip hire has shot up dramatically over the last few years due to landfill tax rises. This problem isn't going to go away anytime soon sadly. Despite feeling anger towards the 'tippers' I also feel sorry for them in a sense. Particularly those who fall into in the first category. That they should have so little self awareness. No sense of pride in themselves or understanding of the environment. It is not unfair to draw a comparison to how they are in other aspects of life.The 'not my problem' type, leave it for somebody else to deal with. Speaks volumes as to a persons attitude in my opinion. 

The bags and larger items are starting to mount  are also starting to mount up on the lay-by near the road too. Some verge clearing is also taking place. Picking up the litter is something that you can really throw yourself into. Almost literally at times!! The benefits are great, therapeutic and numerous.

It keeps you active, It keeps you present, It makes a positive difference in the community. You are outside in the fresh air. A chance to meet people and make new friends. Contributing to a cleaner environment and helping wildlife is a good feeling. If that's not a boost for Mental Health then I don't know what is! I read somewhere that 2 million pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every single day.... Thankfully more and more people seem to be getting involved in helping which is a great thing. Even if you don't want to be involved in a Group, going out on your own is equally valuable.

Heavy Duty  Door

 

Myself and Vijay

Things are looking a lot clearer now.

It has been hard going at times but a very enjoyable few hours. I'm not sure what the answer is to stop litter dumping? Surely it has to start with education, teaching people from an early age that dropping litter isn't acceptable. A change of mindset is needed for sure. You see it everywhere in all walks of life. Challenging someone is difficult, not to say potentially dangerous. In the meantime we will keep on picking it up and Wombling our way through There is still a chance to pick up some more on my walk home..I've actually walked close to 15,000 steps in the process! Many thanks to Sue Almond for organising and to everyone who made the effort to support. A fantastic effort by all concerned!