Trash Free Trails: State Of Our Trails Report

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Trash Free Trails has published its ‘State Of Our Trails’ report, what it says is a ‘first of its kind study into the causes, prevalence, composition and impacts of single-use pollution on recreational trail ecosystems’. They’ve analysed data gathered from trail cleans between July 2020 and August 2023, looking at what types of litter pollution are found and where.

Key Statistics

● Over 216,000 individual items of litter removed from over 5000 km of UK trails by local communities
● Research shows an estimated 41 items of litter per km on UK trails
● Lucozade highlighted as the top brand of single-use drinks container found
● Over 1/5 of recorded ‘animal interactions’ with litter ended in death
● First of its kind study of plastic pollution in trail ecosystems in the UK

Credit: Sam Dugon

By analysing what is found they hope to be able to tackle the causes of litter pollution, rather than just continually picking up the result of it.

They’ve found that the brands found on trails differ from what is found in other litter picking exercises, with Lucozade, Monster and Red Bull featuring more prominently, alongside the appearance of High Five and SiS gel and energy products.

They’ve also found that disposable vapes have made a rapid advance: “In 2020, no Trash Count Report submissions reported disposable vapes. By 2021, 50% of all reports included them. In 2023 so far, 100% of surveys have reported
the removal of disposable vapes.”

In contrast, the data shows that the legislation which introduced charges for plastic carrier bags appears to be effective: “The number of single use plastic carrier bags found on the UK’s beaches from a high of 13 on average in 2013, to just three in 2021.”

Credit: Sam Dugon

Trash Free Trails has developed a five point manifesto:

1 – Call it what it is: Single Use Pollution

They want to shift the emphasis away from stopping people dropping ‘litter’ (although obviously, they shouldn’t) and on to the companies who are creating the single use pollution in the first place.

2 – Active (re)connection between people and nature; using the simple act of care that is represented by a trail clean as a tool for starting a journey towards that relationship.

They want people to access and enjoy nature. As part of this, they recognise the need to remove barriers to access, and will be supporting the Right To Roam campaign.

3. Policy changes to address single use litter pollution at source:

  • Ban disposable vapes with immediate effect.
  • An ‘all in’ deposit return scheme (DRS).
  • Extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation for single use packaging.
  • Implement the recommendations of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) of over 50 governments (including the UK) to end plastic pollution by 2040.

4. Own Your Shit

They want producers of single-use, mass consumption products to stop using their lobbying power to negative effect – for example in opposing deposit return schemes – and to face up to their corporate responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of their products.

5. The 2025 UN Plastics Treaty

Trash Free Trails wants countries to follow through on their March 2022 resolution mandating the creation of a multilateral treaty to address plastic by 2025. Representatives from 173 countries (including the UK) passed this resolution, which would lead to vital improvements in the standardisation, harmonisation and centralisation of single use product pollution monitoring, in service of the aims and objectives of a new, legally binding, UN Global Plastics Treaty.

Credit: Joby Newson

What Can You Do?

Trash Free Trails is inviting individuals to:

  • Stop using the term ‘litter’ and tell your friends why.
  • Send the Report to your MP
  • Share the Report in your workplace; organise a team trail clean.

There are further recommendations for organisations and policy makers.

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Home Forums Trash Free Trails: State Of Our Trails Report

  • This topic has 13 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 1 year ago by RNP.
Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Trash Free Trails: State Of Our Trails Report
  • kayak23
    Full Member

    Interesting seeing the stats on the types of litter being dropped.

    Kind of suggests that it’s commonly dropped by people who we might think would have an affinity and empathy with the outdoors and wilder places that they frequent but often do not.

    Thanks for the article Hannah.

    2
    benpinnick
    Full Member

    Not really – those are all high street brands sold in your local supermarket. What it shows is that there’s a group of people who use the outdoors and buy high street brand ‘energy’ products that DGAF, which is highly unsurprising when you think about the people you meet in the outdoor setting.

    2
    hooli
    Full Member

    I have been on a litter campaign recently and often go to 2 of my local woods with a bin bag and pick up litter while I walk the dogs.

    Without doubt, the worst offenders and teenagers who hang around at jumps. They buy meal deals, sweets and crisps from the local Budgens and leave 90% of their litter next to the log they sit on to eat it.

    I’ve stopped and chatted to a few groups when I’ve been riding through and explained that I’ve been picking up their litter and the reason why. Partly that I hate litter and it is bad for the environment but also the jumps on on private land with the landowner turning a blind eye to the building, if it attracts attention because of the litter then the landower will knock the jumps down and fence it off and we all lose out. The situation improved for about 2 weeks and then started again.

    Last night it got 3 shopping bags worth from a small section of woods, the shopping bags that were left behind from their food so no excuse that they couldn’t carry it.

    2
    crossed
    Free Member

    It’s great work that the Trash Free Trails folk are doing.

    It’s good to see that the report has been picked up by some of the national media as well.

     

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/litter-blighting-uk-footpaths-lucozade-bottles-most-often-found-study

    1
    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    I think the work that Trash Free Trails is excellent, but how do we stop Litterers/Single Use Polluters from dropping their rubbish in the first place. Even if the campaign to stop single use plastics is successful the businesses who produce them will switch to another packaging type, which will end up getting dumped instead. Even if new packaging is decomposable will take several months, if not years to break down.

    As well as the major change to packaging materials the change to human habits needs a significant focus as well. 

    How this is performed I have no idea, other than big PSA campaigns like those of the 70’s but I can’t see anyone willing to fund those in the near future.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    Not really – those are all high street brands sold in your local supermarket

    Well I thought SIS gels instead of McDonald’s packaging would suggest mtbers or trail runners maybe.

    Anyway, it’s horrible.

    MrAgreeable
    Full Member

    I have been on a litter campaign recently and often go to 2 of my local woods with a bin bag and pick up litter while I walk the dogs.

    Without doubt, the worst offenders and teenagers who hang around at jumps. They buy meal deals, sweets and crisps from the local Budgens and leave 90% of their litter next to the log they sit on to eat it.

    You’re doing a good thing here, but it’s worth pointing out that this is exactly the language that Trash Free Trails are trying really hard to avoid. We’ve had years of telling people not to drop litter and the problem is still there, so a wider approach that focuses on producers and the whole narrative around responsible countryside use seems to be in order.

    Bruce
    Full Member

    It’s interesting that all the products featured in the article are things would never be missed if  they didn’t exist. So why not ban the product?

    The sports sponsorship of Red Bull might cause a few problems but most of the products are not particularly healthy.

    meikle_partans
    Free Member

    My understanding was that we did have years of telling people not to drop their litter (Don’t be a litter bug etc etc) and that it had worked wonders to improve stuff, but that in the last twentyish years government spending on those kind of campaigns had nosedived, and we are back to where we were.

    When I talk to young people it’s often amazing how it is just not even on their radar. Even a surprising amount of adults have parroted the “well there isn’t a bin here” line to me!

    (I got a bit obsessed about litter during lockdown, becoming almost a local litter influencer, but it wasn’t doing my mental health any good).

    1
    hooli
    Full Member

    You’re doing a good thing here, but it’s worth pointing out that this is exactly the language that Trash Free Trails are trying really hard to avoid. We’ve had years of telling people not to drop litter and the problem is still there, so a wider approach that focuses on producers and the whole narrative around responsible countryside use seems to be in order.

    I get that but that takes time and by then, we will have lost access to the local woods. It is also a good lesson to the kids about being respectful to the environment around them and consequences of their actions. Hopefully between the 2, it will improve.

    1
    stwhannah
    Full Member

    The ‘Litterbug’ was created as part of a Keep America Beautiful campaign, designed to stop people dropping litter. Or, perhaps – when you discover that KAB was created by the drinks industry in response to the banning of single use bottles and the introduction of a deposit return scheme  – to demonise the end user instead of the industry?

    glp1
    Free Member

    The  worst offenders are dog walkers and there dog mess bags ‘ I’ll pick it up on my wayback’ BS statement for leaving it whilst they go for a walk, to miraculously forgetting said bag of messed and it remaining hanging on the tree.

    2
    RustyNissanPrairie
    Full Member

    Stw’s very own version

    Spring clean

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