Early last Saturday morning (6th February) 15 eager volunteers (including 5 children) took part in the Winter Litter pick walking over 20 miles from Llangattock to the Llangynidr Mountain across the Ffawyddog and back into Llangattock and the Recreation Park.
The 15 strong team collected a massive haul of rubbish including 27 bags of litter, 17 car tyres (and another 28 to collect from the Mountain), a plastic container, 1 car bumper, remnants of a multi home gym, hub caps and a number of other car parts.
Michael Butterfield, Llangattock Green Valleys volunteer and local resident said: “It’s great news that we had so many more volunteers to help us collect the rubbish in our area that’s been fly tipped but I cannot get over the amount of rubbish that people keep dumping in our beautiful spot. It’s such a shame that they cannot get dispose of their rubbish in a safe and responsible manner.
“We are always looking for new ways to achieve a better environment for our small community and we rely on good old-fashioned community spirit and pride to help us get the job done. We know we are making a difference in our area and we welcome anyone who has an interest in greening up their environment or reducing their carbon footprint to get involved in our projects or find out how they can replicate our ideas in their own communities.”
The Llangattock Green Valleys project based in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park won the all Wales final and a share of the British Gas Green Streets funding – some £137,000. Their community litter picks play a small part in a series of sustainable initiatives that helped them win the Welsh final which could see their ambitious plans realised in the coming months – including the installation of solar panels on the community school, community biodiesel, energy assessment of 46 local homes in order to make them super energy efficient, woodlands management which is promoting biodiversity in local woodlands around the community which in turn will provide a local source of wood for the community and the development of micro-hydro generation and irrigation systems powered by solar for the Llangattock allotments.
If you would like to get involved in Llangattock Litter Picks community litter picks please contact Pete Bates at batesovic@yahoo.co.uk. If you would like to know more about the Llangattock Green Valleys projects they are supporting please contact Michael Butterfield at michaelbutterfield@hotmail.com