Trash Free Trails remove 12,000 items of litter from Snowdon on Earth Day
Trash Free Trails’ ‘Earth Day Spring Clean’ campaign saw over 100 people (and the Ryde team) heed their call to leave a positive trace on North Wales’ most beloved trail, Yr Wyydfa, coming together for a full day of trail cleaning and litter picking.
Made all the better by blue skies and epic views, the event brought together hikers, riders, wild swimmers, paddle boarders, local community groups, international partners and more for a hike and ride up the Pyg Track and Llanberis Path.
With a ‘Trash Count’ standing at 12,363 individual items and over 400 kilos removed on Earth Day weekend alone, it’s clear to see the vast quantities of litter left on the UK’s most trodden path (Ordnance Survey, 2017) after high traffic over the Easter weekend.
Volunteers split into 4 groups, tackling the most popular routes up Yr Wyddfa, as well as a team of all ages tackling trash on the banks of Llyn Padarn. Volunteers found nearly 1500 plastic bottles, over 350 full dog poo bags, and over 1600 confectionary wrappers.
The event concluded with a ‘Trash Survey’, the thousands of items laid out, counted and responsibly disposed of, before free burritos were enjoyed. The detailed breakdown of items was then submitted to Trash Free Trails' unique study, The State of Our Trails Report.
The Report enables anyone, anywhere to submit how much litter they’ve collected. This data is being used to paint the first ever picture of the abundance of litter in terrestrial ecosystems in the UK.
TFT were joined by professional mountain bike athlete Manon Carpenter, who joined a group of riders who hit the trails, led by guides from Plas y Brenin:
‘We had great fun, my litter picker came in very handy at times and amazing conditions on Yr Wyddfa for the ride down. Top work to everyone who got involved yesterday, here or elsewhere, and thank you TFT for bringing us together!’
You can find out more about Trash Free Trails and how to get involved here: https://www.trashfreetrails.org/