LITTER heroes are taking part in a month-long campaign to clean up Dorset s streets. The Litter Free Dorset Challenge has begun, with June 1 marking the first day in a month-long effort to reduce the amount of litter left discarded on streets, beaches and in local communities across the county. Around 120 participants, known as litter heroes , signed up to take part in the campaign when it was announced last month and, alongside the option of creating their own challenge, Litter Free Dorset suggested three challenges for heroes to take on. More than two thirds of participants will be taking part in a 10 times challenge, where they pick up litter in their local area 10 times over the course of June. Other participants opted for the 10-minute daily challenge, while some signed up to complete the 10-hour challenge, where they litter pick for 10 hours in one day.
Environment Agency launches World Ocean Day resources for schools
Schools across England will mark World Ocean Day (WOD) next month (Tuesday 8 June) by exploring the journey of plastic with the Environment Agency.
From: Image credit: Alastair Scarlett
Primary and secondary schools have been invited to view a series of online films and activities via an interactive map in advance of the event, culminating in a live question and answer session with Environment Agency and World Wildlife Fund experts on the actual day.
By clicking on different points of the map, students can learn how plastic pollution travels through our toilets and drains to rivers and oceans having started life as a balloon, plastic food wrap, litter, clothing and agricultural materials.
“We did a really big haul of the river that day and each had a canoe acting like a bumper truck, with kayaks all round it, picking the litter and we were all teams of less than six.
“So we were still being very Covid aware and I thought we had done well with our full two tubs.
“But then I came back and found an entire canoe of litter.
“We plan to do more litter picks this summer.”
Back row left to right: Erik Hurinek, Boris Hurinek (trainee leader), James Ramsden (chair & coach), Ray Pickering, Phil Mackie (treasurer)
Front row Samantha Ahern (secretary & trainee coach), Sophie Walton (coach), Abbie Pearce
DORSET residents are being encouraged to take part in a challenge to clean up the county. This June, Litter Free Dorset wants to give everyone the chance to improve their local area at a time that suits them. This initiative by the community campaign is supported by Queen Mary University of London and co-financed by the Interreg France (Channel) England programme through the Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP) project. PPP project leader at Queen Mary University of London, Dr Iwan Jones said: Joining in the challenge can help to clear up your local environment, but providing us with your data can help us to develop solutions to the problem of plastic pollution, which can then be utilised across the channel region as well as further afield.
New avoidable plastics project celebrates diversity
The Islamic Festival Eid al-Fitr is at the heart of a new diversity project encouraging sustainable behaviour changes during faith-based celebrations.
From: Celebrate the Islamic Festival of Eid al-Fitr and help the environment by making sustainable changes
The celebration is the first of a series of events from multiple faiths being highlighted by the Environment Agency as part of the Interreg Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP) programme, which aims to reach a wider audience with its avoidable plastics message.
Eid al-Fitr (12 and 13 May), also called the ‘Festival of Breaking the Fast’, is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims to mark the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.