Wilderness Clean Up Campaign

[Wayne]

The Wilderness Clean Up Campaign has been growing in North America and in the UK.



I have been planning a number of activities for the Wilderness Clean up Campaign and have been speaking to a couple to magazines to help promote the event.

The main event will be May 16 - 18 2008 for more info Forest Knights - THE GREAT WILDERNESS CLEAN UP

I have also been talking with the BTCV about the event.

Rivers looking at locally are.

The Itchen, Hamble, Rother, Arun, Adur, Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, Ouse, Medway and Thames. Chichester Canal etc.

There has been great support from our friends on Song of the Paddle. Now can the Bushcraft Community do better?

I am looking for more suggested locations throughout the UK.

The local scout and guide groups have been very receptive. Locally the probation service are also open to ideas for community projects.

I would like too see more activities planned.

Please email me if your interested in helping at info@forestknights.co.uk with Wilderness Clean Up in the subject title.

 

[NancyM]

Hi Wayne,

I see you haven't wasted any time in spreading the word about The Great Wilderness Cleanup! A friend from CCR told me about this site.

Wayne is the leader of the recently formed UK Chapter of this worthwhile cause. I'm the one who started the whole thing and who looks after Canada and the U.S. (Kevin Callan is my trusted partner), and Tony Osse is the leader of the brand new Brazil Chapter.

You can check out a bit more on Tony's site (currently in progress) http://www.companhiadecanoagem.com.br/
and also on my site
www.wildernesscleanup.com

Please help us save our Mother Earth. Together we can make a REAL difference.

 

[demographic]

Seems a better thing to do than just bemoaning the amount of litter about.

I heard something on the radio about people cleaning up their local areas, they called the Green Gym

 

[pibbleb]

Hi Wayne how you doing!

I'll give this some more thought as it certainly is worthwhile, however, keeping it local to us I'll throw St Leonard's Forest in to the hat.

The forest is managed by Horsham District Council and is often the target of fly tippers. I'd also suggest the Downs Link which is a 37 mile walkway that runs from Guildford to the South Downs North of Shorham.

Having just re-read the thread are you just looking at Rivers?

Can I also suggest you contact BDMLR (British Divers Marine Rescue) They are a national charity that rescue stranded and injured sea mammals, many of these animals are injured by rubbish dumped by us and so they may well be interested in offering some assistance and or ideas on locations.

Exams pending I'll be glad to help.

Best regards

Pib

 

[Matt Weir]

Best of luck with this project folks.

 

[Mirius]

I think it's down to us to expand this out onto the land. The original campaign and the ones planned in the UK have been organised by canoeists, so naturally they are river based. Rivers aren't really something that you could involve the general public in, so in theory doing something on land ought to be easier, but easier said than done I think.

The idea interests me, but I don't know how to move it forward.

 

[NancyM]

Mirius,

This cause is NOT just for canoeists, it is for anyone and everyone. It is NOT limited to rivers, lakes or even creeks. You can clean up your local park if that's what you would like to do. You can clean up hiking and backpacking trails, campgrounds, beaches...anywhere that people go to enjoy the outdoors.

Please feel free to pick something that YOU feel passionate about!

 

[Wayne]

I have just secured the help of Friends of Bersted Brooks and the parks department of Arun District council to help clean up an area of open public space from both the water and on land.

We can all help Nancy make this a great event.

Even is you just take a bin bag to your favourite bit of woodland and remove the litter.
BCUK has a huge membership. If every member removes one bin bag of litter thats a huge amount in total that is no longer causing a hazard to our environment.

 

[NancyM]

You're absolutely right, Wayne! Everyone who can make his or her own contribution, no matter how large or how small, will make a difference.

Together, we can make a REAL difference.

 

[Ed]

Even is you just take a bin bad to your favourite bit of woodland and remove the litter.
BCUK has a huge membership. If every member removes one bin bag of litter thats a huge amount in total that is no longer causing a hazard to our environment.

Its a shame that not everyone here is doing this anyway. We have 4 'organised' clean ups a year with the local community center, 6 a year during the school holidays with the kids as part of a nature awareness project ... plus we also gather litter everytime I take a group out (on the walk back)..... and sometimes it still feels like a loosing battle, but I'd hate to think what the valley would look like without the help and hard work that is put in by them.

I could rant about litter all day to be honest.... so I'll stop now

Ed

 

[Wayne]

Well done Ed.

The last litter pick I organised locally managed nearly a lorry load of bags. Well over 40.

Its sad that our countryside used blighted this way.

 

[Mirius]

I litter pick my local wood as I walk the dogs (when I remember to take the bags ) I collect a plastic supermarket bag each time, so over a weekend I reckon I could shift most of a black bin bag. I'm going to get on top of it as I'd say more than 70% was heritage litter and the remainder was new. Of course currently litter dropping is at it's minimum, and what there is of the new stuff is either cigarette related or childrens sweet wrappers.

 

[rivermom]

I am delighted to read that there is such a thing as a clean up campaign. I would expect that picking up the litter that you come across in your rambles would be second nature to 'bushcrafters', to say nothing of taking your own litter home with you and dealing with it properly.
I actually started to take the idea one step further in my rambles. Where I live farming has impacted very negatively on the environment. Many species of native plants have been lost completly. So now, when I am wandering, I bring seeds in my pocket, and accidently drop them at the sides of the roads. And, in winter I plant apple, damson, and Hazelnut saplings in other folks hedgerows.
Recently, in the local pub, I heard a farmer telling his neighbour how wonderful it was that the flowers were starting to come back. He reckoned it must be this global warming.