Union Canal Litter Pick Paddle

Paddling up and down stretches of the Union Canal near to Paddlefast HQ, it saddens me how much rubbish can be found floating around. As a result, I decided to do something about it and organised a litter pick paddle.

Who came along

A few hardy souls braved a cold evening at the SUP Central Scotland 2nd session at Tesco Redding Road. In addition to the 6 paddlers, we had a shore crew of kids and a group of Tesco employees who very kindly came to help armed with gloves and litter pickers. Some of the under 18s may have been bribed to attend with fish suppers from Benny Ts…!

What we found

An odd assortment of trugs and even a baby bath were used to collect the rubbish collected from the water. The majority of the rubbish collected were plastic bottles, crisp packets and cans. However, some of the more unusual items included jelly bean memorabilia, a tv, a fishing lure and a sodden and disgusting piece of foam.

Educating and sorting

The enthusiastic shore crew could be heard shouting ‘litter’ for miles around! It was a great opportunity to teach the kids about plastic pollution and how long it takes for rubbish to biodegrade, or not as the case may be.

We sorted the rubbish into glass bottles, plastic, cans and general waste. In the end we filled two trolleys with sorted rubbish. The lovely Tesco team took this to be disposed of with the store’s recycling.

A job well done

I cannot begin to tell you how satisfying it is to have paddled past that stretch of canal since, to know that our SUP Central Scotland team are responsible for how good it looks. Needless to say, we all enjoyed our biscuits (after a thorough hand wash!) as we packed up!

If you would like to join us next time, you can like the page Paddlefast on Facebook, follow our events page or drop us a line in the office 01324 861756.