Bristol’s rubbish heroes

The scene was one of carnage. Overflowing bins, bottles, broken glass, leftover food remnants, packaging and beer cans scattered far and wide.

The state of Bristol’s parks and public places after a recent sunny Bank Holiday were slammed as a disgrace by several disgusted observers, with blame placed on austerity measures and irresponsible revellers.

An overflowing bin in Bristol city centre

Council budget cuts have no doubt taken their toll across the city, as collections are scaled back, maintenance funding slashed and existing waste facilities rendered unable to cope with the sheer volume of rubbish.

So it is increasingly down to individual volunteers and groups who are dedicating their time and energy to clearing up Bristol’s public spaces and transforming once-dangerous, derelict sites into safe areas that are being put to a wide range of uses.

The Malago Greenway project is one example of a now-thriving community space in South Bristol that has risen from the ashes of neglect and dereliction.

“I fell in love with Malago Greenway, the beautiful footway and cycling path running along the River Malago. It made me so sad to see this natural paradise being littered and fly tipped,” says Raluca McKett, who, along with Monika Marcak, mobilised a group of volunteers to clear the litter-strewn site.

“When we started, the park was called ‘the tip’ amongst the residents and now many of them join us armed with litter pickers. Neighbours meet neighbours, friendships are formed and a sense of community is building up with every event.

“People are taking ownership of their green. It just goes to show that if there’s a will, there’s a way and that if communities take responsibility and use their energy in a positive way, rather than complaining about what the council should do, wonderful things can happen.

“Ultimately, it’s a battle to change mentalities – it doesn’t happen overnight, but there are hundreds of groups like us out there and hopefully our voices will be heard, making more people think twice before dumping a fridge in the river or dropping a wrapper on the street.”

The effects of people thoughtlessly dumping their litter are all too familiar to Chloe Juyon, a rower, volunteer and campaigner who decided to take action after witnessing the amount of rubbish spoiling her beloved River Avon.

She created Clean Up Bristol Harbour, a group that meets monthly and works to rid the popular city centre waterside area of discarded waste items.

A Clean Up Bristol Harbour volunteer takes to the water on paddle board

“I just wanted to bring people together to give something back to the city, while having fun and enjoying the harbour, a place that makes Bristol so special,” says Chloe.

“I approached the team of wonderful people that face the mammoth task of cleaning the harbour every single day and told them I wanted to gather volunteers together.

“Every time we fill up bags of rubbish and you wouldn’t believe the things we find. We once even found a Marathon wrapper – a chocolate bar that has been branded Snickers since the 1980s – has it been floating around the harbour for more than 30 years?”

Working closely with the Harbour Office, Chloe and her team aim to keep a record of the amount of rubbish they collect at each clean up and show how this litter affects Bristol’s beautiful

Sustrans, a national cycling charity founded in Bristol, runs its own volunteer clean-up days to keep public footpaths and cycleways safe and debris-free.

While a day spent bending down picking up other people’s discarded trash hardly sounds like the most inviting of activities, Sustrans’ director for the south of England James Cleeton says the social aspect of volunteering must not be underestimated.

“One of the words that comes up again and again when I speak to volunteers is camaraderie,” he says.

“We have more than 120 volunteers in Bristol but the real strength lies in the groups that these dedicated individuals belong to. I have no doubt that a group of volunteers working as one, inspired to improve their local area, will always achieve much more than individuals working on their own.”

Perhaps a contender for one of Bristol’s least glamorous jobs, the Poo Patrol Project is a collaboration involving primary schools, the University of Bristol, the council and Sustainable Learning. It has been at work across the city to – quite literally – highlight the scourge of dog fouling on streets and green spaces.

The motive of the cross-generational group is to educate the wider public on the dangers of dog mess and encourage owners to clear up after their dogs. Their method is to take to the streets with stencils and colourful spray paint.

Almost every neighbourhood in Bristol has a team of dedicated volunteers taking pride in their home and working to keep it clean.

Martin Fodor, a Green councillor representing Redland ward, described the volunteers he sees clearing the streets around Gloucester Road as the “great unsung heroes” and said that as a collective, they often help other groups across the city organise their own clean-up initiatives.

Even in a city widely celebrated for its community enterprise spirit, there are still those individuals who fly under the radar and quietly set about making a difference day by day.

Brislington resident Roy Bidder is one such person, who single-handedly launched a mission to rid the streets of rubbish on his walk into work.

“During my walk to work I have become increasingly upset with the amount of litter on the streets, which seems to peak around council bin and recycling collections days,” said the operations director for sustainability data consultancy, Sustain It Solutions.

“My partner suggested to me that instead of moaning about the problem, I should do something about it. So, I bought a litter picker and some compostable bags and once a week have been cleaning up my commute in to work. Each time, I pick up on average about 2kg of mixed waste.”

He added that he records the waste using software in his workplace and is currently on a campaign to encourage other staff members and friends to join the ‘commute clear-up’ bid.

The council has welcomed the growth in community-led initiatives that is the ethos the Clean Streets campaign launched by Mayor Marvin Rees launched the Clean Streets campaign in November 2016.

“Tackling Bristol’s litter problem is something we need to do together and Bristol Waste Company can provide free litter pickers and bags to support local groups or individuals,” said a Bristol City Council spokesperson.

“It’s really important that everyone takes responsibility for the city and how it looks. This means doing simple things like helping to keep your street clean, taking litter home or finding another bin if the one you want to use is full which is particularly important on sunny weekends when lots of people are enjoying the city and its parks.”

Addressing criticism about the state of the city’s parks and public places, the council said it has placed more bins in popular locations throughout the summer and added that these are emptied more frequently.

Malago Greenway clean up efforts

Of course council cuts are taking their toll and people who thoughtlessly discard their rubbish are at fault, but increasingly, campaigners are fighting back against the throwaway society that must take its share of the blame for the state of the city’s streets.

Bristol-based social enterprise Frank Water has taken the step to stop bottling its water in single-use plastic bottles and is instead encouraging people to refill reusable bottles through its campaign #PledgeToRefill.

Frank founder and CEO Katie Alcott said: “We want to get people thinking about the single-use plastic we buy drinks in and move towards more sustainable solutions to staying hydrated on the move.”

A petition calling for a city-wide ban on non-essential single use plastics has been launched by Fodor and gained the backing of more than 450 people to date.

It might not be a glamourous task, but the city’s unsung heroes are forging a way forward for the city and finding some surprising joy can be found among the grime.

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