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Permalink Reply by karl brown on February 23, 2015 at 20:18

PG Festival litter sticks were procured from one or other of the pound shops between the Fox pub and the Triangle. Can't guarantee they still stock them but as a general rule pretty much anything you can think of can think of as relatively low cost plastic goods and more be found at the back of one shelf or other.

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Permalink Reply by Suellen edgar on February 24, 2015 at 19:25

Hi Melanie
Amazon sell a range of litter picking sticks from £6.95 with free delivery. I'll get one myself as I constantly pick up litter from the pavements around here. Lol

Also seems the Great British High St Tidy Up starts again on 21st March 2015. Lots of ideas on how the communities can get involved can be found at http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk/clearupday

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Permalink Reply by Caroline Simpson on February 27, 2015 at 17:01

This is the piece from the BPCA Autumn 2014 Newsletter:

The glories of litter-picking

 Does the sight of litter upset you on an otherwise lovely walk in a local park?  Do you feel cross with the world when you go shopping on local streets because of bottles, bags, cans and general rubbish dropped by other street users?  Let these unhappy feelings be a thing of the past and get a slightly warm internal glow instead.  Carry a litter-picker.  Sign the Bowes Park Litter Picker Pledge!

 It really is very little trouble to carry a light litter-picker with you and a couple of plastic bags.  You can then pick up any offending articles and get rid of them in a nearby bin.  Even better, the firm we buy from also sells a special one designed for children.  The Graptor is the same design but with a  shorter handle and has clever stickers on its 'face' to make it look like a dinosaur.  Kids from aged 2 can manage it, and really love to use it on walks and in the parks. 'Start 'em young', that's what I say.

 You can always buy your own grabber – every home should have one - but the BPCA has a number of adult Litterpickers you can borrow.  You have to sign up to the Litter Picker Pledge, and then you are off.  The Pledge.......

1.  To take the litterpicker out when I go on local walks.

2.  To pick up litter where and when I can.

3.  To try to put all the things which can be recycled in a recycle bin or bag.

4.  To put all the other litter in a bin.

5.  To return the litterpicker to the BPCA if and when I move away or stop using it.

First come, first served, contact Caroline@qurna.org  if you wish to sign the Pledge and borrow one.  To buy your own.....the best pickers – lightest and most effective - are produced by www.litterpickersdirect.com or email  sales@helpinghand.co.uk 

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Kemball-Cook on February 28, 2015 at 17:15

I've been litter-picking in our road in Bounds Green for about 5 years now - not the whole road, just about 50 yards near my house. We've been here for 14 years and the litter always irritated me as it built up quickly between weekly street cleanings, but I felt a strong reluctance to start taking responsibility for it because of what I thought other people - my neighbours to be precise - would think of me: a mug, or just plain nutty. However I started one day and got such a rush of satisfaction that it drowned out those feelings. Also there is something to be said for the notion that the older you get, the less you base your life on what other people might think. In fact my neighbours are most respectful and even grateful for the effects of my little, shall we say, obsession. And I don't have to look at a mucky road any more.

As a family when we go to Broomfield Park I always take my litter-picker and a couple of bags. The Park is such a success storiy for community involvement that it is a joy to do a bit of extra primping.

Most recently I decided to adopt a bit wider afield as I walk back from the school run, picking up large items of litter that have been abandoned for more than a week. I have also "adopted" the small play area at the Warwick Road end of Tewkesbury Terrace which has recently become haunted by al fresco beer and pizza parties, despite the mud. One wouldn't want to be overly analytical, but at least for me, the sight of litter genuinely depresses my mood, and clearing it up - whatever I think of people who drop their chicken boxes and beer cans wherever they like (and I do think quite a lot about them!) - is simple, quick and makes me feel twice as good. It's a no-brainer!

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Permalink Reply by Caroline Simpson on March 1, 2015 at 9:38

Today, Sunday, I bought a brand new grabber of the right sort at The Boot Fair for £3.

If you would like to buy it off me, let me know, and I can take it to The Red Sea in Mydd rd and you can collect and give them the £3 for me any time that suits you.

Let me know.

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Melanie Corfield on March 4, 2015 at 11:55

Caroline - thank you very much, that is great. I can pop to the Red Sea on Saturday if that's ok.

Thanks to everyone for the advice - brilliant.

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Permalink Reply by Caroline Simpson on March 4, 2015 at 14:23

Done!

Happy picking.

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Permalink Reply by Hester Smith on March 8, 2015 at 16:39

I have often thought the same, you have inspired me, I am getting a picker for me and my daughter and we can do our bit on the walk to and from school!

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Permalink Reply by Liz Wright on March 10, 2015 at 9:33

Like Geoff I had mixed feelings about dealing with litter - but in the end I bit the bullet and started dealing with the bins at the corner of Brownlow Road and A406.  I regularly lift plastic sacks that have been left on the pavement  into the bins.  As I am just over 5 foot it can be quite a struggle.  However I have noticed that others do join in and pick up a plastic bag when they are passing.  Enfield council have been fantastic in supporting this and generally respond when I email to alert them to potential chaos re rubbish gathering around the bins.   Litter free streets make a huge difference to an area.  I just don't want to live in a rubbish tip.

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Kemball-Cook on March 10, 2015 at 9:43

Well done Liz! Taking control is great.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Sitkin on March 10, 2015 at 11:26

Yes Enfield Council's Environment Department has sticks and bags for volunteers. I find it cathartic picking up litter and wonder whether Bowes Bounds friends might like to organise a group day where we descend en masse in our ward? Litter/fly-tipping is a constant nightmare locally - alongside anti-social behaviour on Green Lanes and traffic around Warwick, it's easy one of the top three problems we work on - and anything we can do to improve the situation is good. I know that the people picking up the litter are not the ones who caused it (ie there is something unfair about the proposal) but like many friends I HATE being surrounded by garbage. And it feels good to do something about it.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Sitkin on March 10, 2015 at 11:28

Have organised cleanup actions before in the ward but never w/Bowes Bounds friends.Great idea. For sticks etc, you can contact Enfield Council Environment Department (switchboard 379.1000) or let me know and I'll do it on your behalf. The Council has quite a few to hand out

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