A WHOPPING 34,000 pieces of litter weighing the equivalent of a giraffe were removed from Dorset streets, greenspaces, and beaches as part of a challenge.
Throughout May, 177 Dorset residents took on the Litter Free Dorset Challenge which saw people across the county getting outdoors, having some fun and litter picking their areas.
Challengers were invited to pick a challenge of their choice to take on over the course of a month and were able to fundraise for Litter Free Dorset to contribute towards enabling the challenge to run again in 2023 - in return participants were given free litter picking equipment to use and keep.
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Litter Free Dorset’s coordinator, Sophie Colley, said: “A big thank you to everyone who grabbed a litter picker and got involved with this year’s Litter Free Dorset Challenge. It’s been fantastic to see everyone’s updates in the Litter Free Dorset Challenge Facebook group and the community support given for everyone involved.
“We hope the participants have all been inspired to continue their litter picking activities into the future. A big shout out to one young litter picker who fundraised £105 towards the next LFD Challenge as part of their challenge.”
Challengers were also asked to record litter-related data on behalf of the Preventing Plastic Pollution Project to help inform solutions to tackle plastic pollution long term.
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Over 70 per cent of the litter comprised plastic and the most common type of litter identified were cigarette butts and plastic wrappers used for sweets, crisps and snacks. Making up the top five were drinks cans and bottles plus identifiable plastic pieces – which highlights the issue that plastics break down into smaller fragments when exposed to the elements.
Preventing Plastic Pollution Researcher, Amanda Arnold, said: “Thank you to everyone who took part in the Litter Free Dorset Challenge and recorded their litter survey results on the Preventing Plastic Pollution citizen science hub.
“We were thrilled to see so much enthusiasm from the younger generation, with over half (54 per cent) of all participants registered being under sixteen, or parents completing the challenge with their children. Extra special thanks to the litter hero that recorded litter surveys for all 31 days of May.”
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