I read the ‘Let’s clean up’ article (CP, 28-08-20) and am delighted to see people being encouraged to do their bit.

A few weeks ago I was walking our dog on one of our usual local routes in Cowes. I was disgusted to see just how much litter was discarded in the bushes, pavements and on the roads.

I decided to purchase a litter picker gadget and since then we have been taking a bag with us on our walks and collecting rubbish.

The first walk I took a large bag and the bag was quickly filled to the brim. I was unable to pick up a huge amount of rubbish due to the sheer volume.

The bag was so bulky and heavy I struggled to get it home while also walking the dog.

Since then every walk my husband and I have been on with our dog, we’ve taken a bag and the litter picker gadget and each time we have never failed to locate huge amounts of discarded rubbish — tin cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, crisp packets, plastic bags, sweet wrappers, face masks, sandwich wrappers, cigarette packets, and every other conceivable piece of rubbish — with the bag overflowing. It is so annoying to see the sheer amount of rubbish that blights our green spaces and on our doorstep.

I’ve been guilty of thinking ‘it’s someone else’s responsibility’ and ‘why should I pick it up?’ but nobody else picks it up and we all need to take responsibility for protecting our wild animals, our countryside and sea and keeping our planet clean.

How the County Press launched its anti-litter campaign

Today, I took a smaller bag to make walking the dog a little easier and again, the bag was quickly filled.

Every walk we have had to leave just as much rubbish again due to not having the ability to pick all of it up.

We’ve been stopped by a few people now thanking us for picking up the rubbish which is really nice. Hopefully we are starting to inspire others to do the same.

I am a keen sea swimmer and am going to try to organise some beach litter picks with my Wight Tri club mates

One thing I’m not sure about though is what I should do with the rubbish collected? Do I put it in my black bin at home? Do I try to get it into a council bin? Should I separate out the recyclable rubbish?

Editor’s footnote: Obviously it would be ideal to separate out any recyclable rubbish but otherwise use a public waste bin or put in your black bag rubbish at home.

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