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What do a psychiatric nurse, a kitchen manager and a banker have in common?
The answer is…they all love rubbish. They love it so much that they decided to form a local litter picking group on social media to rid their village of it completely. So what prompted this diverse set of people to give up their precious leisure time to go rooting around in the gutters and hedgerows of Bere Alston?
“It’s all about appreciating what a wonderful place the Bere Peninsula is “explains psychiatric nurse, Julie Marks, a founder member. “ We just decided that there was just too much rubbish in our lanes and hedgerows, so we decided to do something about it. We formed a group on Facebook … “Outstanding Natural Beauties” what else! ”
Already the group has 160 members. “We want to make it fun and safe for adults and children to keep our beautiful environment clean and tidy. Dog waste is of particular concern, but it’s about education. Litter is everybody’s responsibility” explains mum of two, Mel Perkin, who works at the village school.
Julie has great aspirations for the group. “Already the enthusiasm generated by our members is encouraging others to tidy their own private home areas. Ultimately the village will be a cleaner, brighter, safer place for all of us, including nature.”
Kathleen Snell, a banker, is leading the strategy on some of the wider issues. “Picking up unsightly litter is the easy bit. 60% of what we pick up can be recycled. Green waste will become more of a challenge if charges by the Council go ahead. We are currently exploring community composting with the Devon Network. Fly tipping is annoying and we are encouraging members to keep watch. We want Bere Alston to be the cleanest village in England”