Absolute Rubbish

Cycling up to Dumfries yesterday, we were dismayed/ appauled/ speechless to see the stretch of roadside we’d cleared of all rubbish on the shore clean up, on the 8th of April, was filling up with litter again. Already!

There was one thing that stuck out – Red Bull cans…

What a shame Red Bull doesn’t give you brains!

We know that many red bull cans are also being chucked (and picked up) from the Quay Hill…

Whoever you are, with your secret Red Bull habit, hide the evidence in a bin (preferably recycling) – not on our roadside!

Thank you.

[If you do nothing else at this point – scroll down to watch the cool Ecover video below!]
We took photos of (nearly) all of the litter on the short stretch of road from the S bend back to Glencaple. I know – like we’ve got nothing better to do…

This was just 16 days after the shore clean up, on a short stretch of road. We picked it all up, and will recycle the bottles and cans.

Prior to this, and less than a week after the NIR/ NNR shore clean up, we came across this garden waste tipped over the side of the Shore Road, just beyond the Big Rock…

We’re not the roadside litter police – but this complete lack of respect did come with particularly bad timing and stood out like a sore thumb as the shoreline was otherwise as clean as clean can be:

Being organic, the soil and garden waste will eventually break down into the earth, though it may introduce any number of non-native/ invasive garden plants to the shoreline (and the council offer a legal way to dispose of garden refuse). But the plastic box used to transport it is never going to go away.

If it didn’t get washed ‘away’ in a high tide to end up littering our oceans, or on someone elses shore, it would remain an eyesore on the Caerlaverock shore. Forever. [We broke it up and disposed of it in the bin a few meters away, at Big Rock.]

Fly tipping is illegal. SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) state:

Flytipping can be hazardous to health, causes environmental damage, looks unsightly and costs considerable sums of taxpayers’ money to clean up.

Flytipping, or the illegal disposal of waste, is a major problem in certain areas.

It occurs in both urban and rural areas and clearing it up costs Scottish local authorities more than £2.5 million each year.

Keep Scotland Beautiful state that ‘Litter can affect our health and local environment – that’s why people risk an £80 penalty for littering or £200 for flytipping.’

What can we do about it?

dumbdumpers.org is the national public reporting tool for flytipping in Scotland.

Flymapper is the national flytipping reporting tool for land managers.

Find out what can be recycled in at the Dumfries Household Waste Recycling Centres (Lincluden and Locharmoss). [List at the bottom of this page –  you’ll notice plastic bottles, metal cans, soil & rubble are all on the list!]

Read more about what Zero Waste Scotland is doing to tackle flytipping nationally. Their strategy [>>read here<<] promotes a new approach to litter, focusing on prevention instead of clean-up.

Visit Recycle for Scotland >>here<<.

Complete the Dumfries and Galloway Community Safety Survey (dog fouling/ littering/ fly tipping) here: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/

And read more about it here: dgwgo.com/dumfries-galloway-news/dog-fouling-community-safety-survey-2018/

To end on a cheerier note,  The Boathouse Shop in Glencaple sells many ‘environmentally friendly’ products including degradable pedal bin liners – ideal for using in the car for your empty Red Bull cans or other litter…

and  Vegware fully compostable take-away cups (Made in Britain). Use them again and again, then put them in the compost bin. Or, even better, get 20p off your take-away cuppa by bringing your own re-useable cup/ mug/ receptacle!

We’ll do a wee ‘feature article’ on ‘what’s in the shop’ soon, but you may be interested in the Ecover in the background of the middle photo – The Boathouse will soon offer a refill option, so you can use your washing up bottle over and over again – they can cope with it – it really is a sin that they are used only once and then thrown away – all that potential – let them show you what they’re capable of!

Already in stock – washing up liquid in bottles made from recycled ocean plastic – that’s got to be worth a splash!

Have a wee look at the Ecover interactive website for inspiration (click on the picture below):

Watch the video here:

Other options are available (see the council website). They suggest that there may be other recycling centres near you that accept different items or are open at different times. You can also use their address search to find household waste recycling points, there are lots of these across the region and they might be a useful alternative.

You might also want to consider:

• requesting a collection for large items (bulky uplifts)
• requesting a collection for domestic appliances (white goods uplifts)
• donating items to a local charity or re-use organisation

Council enquiries and feedback

• Complete an online form You can also email recycling.centres@dumgal.gov.uk or call 030 33 33 3000

Phew – that felt like a bit of an epic post!

Please share with anyone you think will appreciate it, or with anyone you think might have a problem with littering (especially if you also suspect heavy Red Bull consumption).

Do you have any ideas on how to tackle the issue?

Any good ‘litter-lout-put-it-in-not-out’ type solutions we can try?

What will work to keep our roadsides (and shores) free of rubbish and plastic waste?

Get in touch with your thoughts through our Facebook page or by emailing us at caerlaverockcommunity@gmail.com

It takes lots of little actions from lots of people to make a great community!