Benji, the Plastics Challenge pooch

Benji, the Plastic Challenge pooch

Friend of the Trust, and best friend to an eco-warrior springer spaniel, John Standerline shares Benji’s special talent for cleaning up plastic on our canals.

After adopting Benji from the Dog’s Trust, John discovered his new dog loved to fetch and carry plastic litter in exchange for a treat. Benji put his new-found skills to good use as they walked the nearby Llangollen and Shropshire Union canals during lockdown. “If there’s a bottle, bag or wrapper, he’ll bring it back, expect a treat and do it again,” John says. Benji has brought back all sorts from the canal bank; beer cans, discarded food containers, even a pickled onion jar. John, for his part, simply bags the litter and recycles it later. “Benji is bright,” John continues, “he would have made a good detector dog. But picking up plastic is something anyone could try to train their dog to do. It’s got to the stage that we need a new canal walk, because there’s not much left on Benji’s patch.” Sadly, plastic pollution remains a big problem on our waterways. To try to stop 500,000 pieces reaching our oceans each year, our charity has to spend £1m annually on cleaning it up. Yet if every visitor to our canals picked up just one piece of plastic rubbish, we could solve the problem in a year. In the meantime, Benji is doing his best to protect wildlife and keep towpaths and riverbanks clean, safe and beautiful. Put your pooch on patrol and we could tackle the problem even faster.

We’d love to hear your story of how you’re helping to protect and care for your local canal. Get in touch at:

supportercare@canalrivertrust.co.uk