The Change in Motion: Talking Trash with Calderdale Local Legends!

Trash Free Races took us to some incredible places last year. We’re very grateful to be able to laugh, play games, engage, chat and listen to a lot of people at those events. For reasons out of our control or explanation, every now and then, one conversation sticks a little more than others. The knock on effect of one conversation in particular has resulted in a new roving Community Hub and 7138 items of single-use pollution removed and reported by one power couple in Calderdale, Rob and Mandy Glover! 

The Glovers kindly invited Sarah-Jane into their home for all types of tea after a local fell race called the Hebden 22. Where they decided to take matters into their own hands and prior to the race, contacted the event organisers to get TFT a pre-race shout out on the megaphone to all the attendees as well as a feature in the events email list! 

It’s full circle moments like these that fill us with so much warmth knowing that the change we dream of is happening, people do care, and we couldn’t be more inspired by the Glovers and what we’ve learned from them over a cuppa.

S-JB: How did you first hear about Trash Free Trails?

RG: We were at Ard Rock by accident. We were walking up in the Dales last year and we came across one of your colleagues who we talked to about the state of the world and all things in between, and we just loved the idea that Trash Free Trails don't have a blaming attitude or  point fingers.. It’s more about thinking about the producers and about people's lack of connection with each other and nature, which really struck a chord. 

MG: It was very inspiring. We went away and we just talked between us for ages and said, right, what can we do? 

S-JB: Together, you've placed second on our leaderboard of all of the citizen scientists around the UK that are out there collecting rubbish. Congrats, first of all! How have you managed to collect that much?

RG: Well, I mean, we're in the fortunate position that we are retired, and so we're out in nature pretty much every day, walking, cycling, running. So maybe two or three times a week we will say, right today we're going to take our salad tongs, our mini picker and a little bag. Anything we see on a route we would normally do, we'll just kind of get on with it. At the moment it's quite a regular activity which is really nice.

S-JB: With any regular spots that you trail clean, have you noticed a reduction in single-use pollution at all?

MG: It depends on the time of year. We've got a local school down there [points out the window], so when the school's in, the rubbish is out.  When the kids are on holiday, it tends to be a little bit tidier. Also, because we're in a valley which is very popular for tourists, some of the more tourist or more accessible routes get a lot of dog walkers.

RG: I think as well that it's kind of one of those things where, if there's trash around already, it's kind of almost an open signal to give people permission just to drop stuff, because someone else has  done it. I think if you can have a trail that you keep clean then it just tends to try and set a tone, really, because  the less rubbish that's there, hopefully less likely people are to drop it. I think it's a bigger kind of barrier to cross.

S-JB: You've created a fair few DIY pieces of trail cleaning equipment. Do you have any tips or tricks for those wanting to increase their trail cleaning experience?

MG: Always have a bread bag in your rucksack and always have some salad tongs about your person. Really useful! It means you don't have to carry gloves around. It means that you can just keep things at arm's length. For a lot of people, they think, ‘oh, it's dirty picking rubbish up’., Having something like that it's quite fun as much as anything. I also think as well, if we're going to encourage younger children, a big litter picker is too big for them, it's really hard for a smaller child to actually manoeuvre something that's so long and requires big hands on, whereas a pair of salads prongs actually works quite well for a little one.

S-JB: Has your connection to nature changed at all the more you've been trail cleaning? How do you feel before and after a trail clean? 

RG: I think if you see lots of trash around, it kind of hurts more on nature's behalf. Since we've been involved you guys, we're much more up to speed with some of the harms that single use pollution does. So I think it makes us feel more, it makes our emotions a bit more intense. We’ve realised that this stuff isn’t just horrible to look at and spoils a view. These items are pollution, chemicals are going to leach into the earth and be around for the foreseeable.

MG: I think as well, that when you're on your knees, down and looking at things, you're actually quite close to the smaller things that go unnoticed, and it's nice to be doing something for it [nature].

S-JB: What would you say to someone who wants to get involved with Trash Free Trails? 

MG: Do it :) 

RG: I think one of the things about collecting trash is that it is quite therapeutic. Maybe, if you're doing it 40 hours a week, it would be like a real drag, but there's just something very  purposeful about going out for half an hour or an hour, on a walk, taking your salad tongs (like you would), and a little bag and thinking, actually, that's just made a big difference.

RG: It's not going to change the world, (S-JB: we think it will) but it shifts your own mindset, because it does make you feel good, and you think, if that's just a little bit done, and that's a little bit less of an edge to cope with, yeah, it's a nice thing. So have a go, because maybe some of the effects that it has are not always evident right away...

MG: Everybody wants to be on the winning side, everybody gains from doing a bit of clearing. It's not a big effort, and you feel good at the end of it.

RG: I think that in a world at the moment where there's a lot  of fairly crazy things going on and that are really out of control, it's very hard to know how to make a difference to that global stuff. But if you go out and clean a trail or put a couple of bits of trash in your pocket as you go along, you are acting, and making a real difference, that's only a good thing for you, for us all. 

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