Dartford Giving

By Kate Hargreaves

Like many people, I’ve taken the opportunity afforded by working from home since the start of the pandemic to get a new housemate – a puppy. He’s great company for cuddles on the sofa and also makes my walks around the block to get out of the house far more enjoyable.

However, our walks are punctuated with frequent commands of “leave it”; my little four-legged companion has really drawn my attention to just how much litter there is on our streets. It’s sad to see, as well as potentially dangerous for animals and young children. Whilst you are arguably doing your bit by not littering in the first place, if you’d like to go one step further, have you thought about becoming a voluntary litter picker?

Litter picker

“What is it?” It’s as simple as it sounds – go for a walk, pick up any rubbish you see along the way, leave the rubbish bag in an easily identifiable roadside spot and make sure an appropriate person knows it’s there to be collected.

“Would I enjoy it?” The nice thing about litter picking is that you can see the direct impact of your efforts as soon as you’ve done it – just look behind at the clean pathway and know that you have helped both the community and the environment. You also get some exercise and fresh air while doing your good deed.

“How much time do I need for it?” This is an incredibly flexible role and you can do this whenever, wherever and as often as you like. “This sounds great, how do I get involved?” There are a few different ways that you can get involved as a volunteer litter picker, so I’ll outline three ways that I’m aware of that are relevant to the Dartford area.

Firstly, you could join an existing group of litter pickers, although this will not be possible until restrictions are lifted. There are a few groups around Dartford, for which you can find details on Facebook, or you can email the council who will put you in touch with the groups they’re aware of, which brings me onto the second way to get involved…

Contact the Waste and Parks team at Dartford Borough Council, by emailing waste@dartford.gov.uk, and they will provide you with all the necessary equipment including high visibility vests, gloves, refuse bags, sack holders and litter picker sticks. Equipment can be delivered to you or collected from the Civic Centre. Once litter collections are complete, just email the above address with the quantity and location of the bags to help them organise collections.

Finally, you can be a litter picker through Sustrans, which is a charity responsible for maintaining the National Cycle Network, making it easier for people to walk and cycle. There are a number of ways you can help Sustrans, which I’ll save for another article, but if you email volunteers-south@sustrans.org.uk, they’ll put you in touch with a local Community Route Champion (such as my mum!) and will provide you with equipment too.

If you have any questions, feel free to email kate@dartfordliving.com. Happy litter picking!