Litter Picking in our Community
In June some of our team volunteered to litter pick along the side of the river nearby to our office. Renfrewshire Council, the one local to our office has a Team Up to Clean Up scheme. This provides the resources needed for local people or businesses to help clean up the area.
June is also part of the Summer Clean 2021 a Keep Scotland Beautiful initiative. In 2021 they are hoping to litter pick across a million miles! We contributed around 5 miles each to the cause.
Did you know?
45,000 people took part in litter picks as part of the last Keep Scotland Beautiful campaign in Spring 2019.
Source: Keep Scotland Beautiful
Did you know?
575 tonnes of litter was removed in 2019/20 as part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful Clean Up campaign.
Source: Keep Scotland Beautiful
Our Experience
In true Discover Scotland Tours fashion, our Tour Leader volunteers arrived in kilts ready to pick up litter in style! We spread out along the path and river embankment, picking up pieces of litter with our litter pickers. We brought along gardening gloves to protect our hands and took care while picking. You can see a little about our visit in the video above.
By the end we collected around 9 bags of litter from around a 2 mile section of the river. Our local council kindly picked these up. Many of the items found were things that could have been recycled such as plastic bottles and bottle tops. Our team then headed back to the office with the promise of a well earned cupcake!
If you would like to arrange a litter pick then we recommend first undertaking a risk assessment. Next you can contact the local council or landowner. They can advise suitable places for collecting litter and explain the procedures for waste collection afterwards. This helps everyone to stay safe while helping their community.
History of the Area
The path we chose is next to the Argyll Stones which date back to the 7th century.
Some believe one of the stones carried St Conval over from Ireland. Later, after his arrival there were pilgrimages to the stone. Many people at the time believed it could have healing properties. The other is believed to be the pediment of a cross, also connected to St Conval.
Queen Victoria also visited the area in 1888. She docked on the banks of the river near where we walked on 22nd August 1888. The Queen then stayed at the nearby Blythswood House and Estate. Blythswood House no longer exists and is now the location of the Normandy Hotel.
