Trash Free Trails Releases 2021 Impact Report

Singletrack Reader Award winner Trash Free Trails has released its 2021 Impact Report, looking at what has been achieved so far, and what their priorities will be this year.

Our annual impact report looks back over everything that we have done, and – much more importantly – have achieved in the last year. It is an opportunity to pat ourselves (and you, because “we”, Trash Free Trails, are our members) on the back for a job well done. It’s also an important time to ask some slightly more challenging questions, and try to answer them… what did we say we would do? What did we do? What was the result? Based on that, what should we be doing in 2022 and beyond?

Trash Free Trails

There are plenty of impressive numbers, demonstrating an incredible amount of community support and volunteer effort for their goals:

“2021 saw Trash Free Trails mobilise over 1500 people, who volunteered 3,236 hours of their time to remove almost 50,000 items (4700kg) from over 4500km of their trails and wild places.“

As Trash Free Trails has always sought to make clear, their work is about more than just picking up litter:

What really, really matters is the outcomes that result; it’s not (just) about the amount of SUP (Single Use Plastics) that we remove. It’s about trails and wild places being left as nature intended. It’s about volunteers feeling positive about the impact that they’ve made and the connection they feel. It’s about ecosystems that are no longer choked by crisp packets and drinks bottles. It’s about young (and old) people discovering the wonderful joy of purposeful adventures in woods and mountains and lakes.  

Trash Free Trails

They’re setting six priorities for the future, which will be addressed through three programmes of work. There’s also a ‘routemap’ of key events for the year ahead, which you’ll note includes a number of major mountain bike events that will be operating under a Trash Free Trails Approved scheme. If you’ve ever been to a site after an event and wondered about the problem of tear offs, or spectator litter, or abandoned race tape – this programme seeks to address that and other elements of sustainability. Last year’s Red Bull Hardline event was a pilot for it.

If you want to read the full report, you can download it here. It’s worth a read if you want to be inspired by the potential of individuals to make a difference, both through their own actions, and their interactions with others. Maybe it’ll inspire you to think about how you interact with your trails, and the landscape they’re in?

You can also listen to our podcast with founder Dom Ferris, and hear about their mission:

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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