Mr BOTRA and I can’t help ourselves. Whenever we are out walking in the beautiful British countryside, if we spot any litter we have to pick it up and stuff it in the outside pocket of the rucksack. We just like to leave places looking better than when we arrived.
On a recent walk / litter pick, along with the usual cans and bottles, McDonalds packaging and plastic, we found a £5 note! We felt doubly blessed as litter picking always makes us feel good anyway.
I don’t just litter pick in the countryside. Although here in Salford the Council provide some street cleaning, this doesn’t in anyway keep up with the amount of litter on the streets. On my journey to and from work I often arrive with an armful of rubbish, mostly sweet wrappers and plastic bottles and I always pick up glass bottles as these are so lethal when they break, particularly for the tyres of bicycles. This doesn’t really take up any of my time but helps to keep our environment looking just that little bit better.
Another good find on a litter picking sessions some time ago was a fluffy [after it had been washed] chocolate brown hand towel that we still use in our bathroom. This probably was less litter and more lost but after seeing it for a few days it was morphing in to litter and I could only assume the original owner had no idea where they had lost it.
I would really like to live in a world where this litter picking wasn’t necessary but until then I carry on in the hope that for all those people who see me and think I am one crazy woman, just one or two will spot me and next time think twice about throwing litter down … until then I never know what I might find.
Back on the road again 
We do similar – particularly along our local river and canal. We also do the 2 minute beach clean. I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday later this month – a folding litter grabber that she can fold up and keep in her rucksack! So this now lives in our campervan, along with a good stock of rubbish bags too. Our only gripe is that, after picking up litter, it’s sometimes hard to dispose of it locally. In Europe there are usually large wheelie bins in the car parks, whereas in the UK there are normally only small litter bins, most of which are already overflowing.
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Your wife sounds like a star, I’ll look out for someone with a folding litter grabber in their rucksack. It is nice to keep a favourite walking area litter free.
I agree finding a bin can be a problem. I once walked about a mile through Salford with a bag full of rubbish and didn’t find a bin until we had crossed the canal in to Manchester. Then when you do find them they can be very full. A lot of car parks in the countryside have stopped having bins, asking visitors to take their litter home too.
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