A fine day. A great group of guys. Plenty of litter to pick. What’s not to like?! (Answer: plenty of litter to pick is what’s not to like!). No one is doing the OWLs any favours by throwing their litter on the ground or in the vegetation. But it’s true that since we started litterpicking we’ve managed to avoid there being complaints about it – especially about sexual debris that many find offensive – so we are getting something right. And it is also true that many guys are using the bin and bags we put around the place, meaning that litter that might otherwise be chucked away gets bagged. And we collect it from the bags.
Of course, in these current times of extra concern we ensure that we are appropriately physically-distanced, sanitise our hands regularly and avoid sharing litterpickers.
Our party of eight got to work quickly. We wanted to clear up the nude sunbathing area before it got busy; we aim to avoid disturbing others doing what they are there for. The area was in a nasty mess. We soon took care of that.
On our way through we routinely empty the ‘permanent’ black sacks, separating the recyclable rubbish from the rest. Wipes are not recyclable. Nor do they rot. Just saying!
With OWLs in all parts of the woods it was somewhat surprising that nearly all made it back to the car park in time for some much-needed and cool refreshments. Someone had been a bit enthusiastic about chilling the drinking water; it was frozen; but the thought was there!
Already we had a good haul of filled sacks, but we soon ventured out for more.
We are not sure why some people rip the ‘permanent’ bags down. Maybe they think they detract from the natural environment? (Btw: condom foils, lube sachets, used condoms, bottles of poppers and wipes tend to detract from the natural environment).
The more experienced (wiser?) OWLs reckon we know the majority of the ‘hot spots’ where guys go if they want some time together in more private surroundings. But it’s always good to introduce our volunteers to places that they weren’t previously aware of. And which they then have the option of using should they want to!
Eventually the fun had to come to an end. Final task was to secure the bags and put them beside the road for later collection by our friendly forest warden. A total very close to our maximum – 54 sacks of rubbish of which 22 were recyclable items.
A credit to our loyal volunteers, who we hope we will see again next month. Hopefully along with others who think that what OWL does is worthwhile and worth supporting.
But wait! Did we say 54 sacks of rubbish? WRONG! Two of our trusty OWLs stayed on to do some more clearing up and added a further FIVE sacks, bringing our total haul for the day to a stonking (and in some cases stinking) 59 sacks of rubbish, 23 being of recyclable items. That’s the maximum amount the OWLs have ever collected. Another record-breaker! A brilliant effort! (although it has to be said that it would be good to have had much less work to do and far fewer sacks of litter to collect as a result of people using bins or taking their litter away with them).
Our next OWL litterpick is on Tuesday, 1st September.
(Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)