Page 14 - Oundle Life June 2021

A RUBBISH GROUP
Litter Wombles
When you are outside, on a walk or in the car, what do you see? Do you see tidy streets and clean green spaces or do you, like me and my fellow Northants Litter Wombles, often see far too much litter?
It is difficult to know how many bin bags we could fill with all of the litter currently strewn across Northamptonshire, but since setting the group up at the end of January Northants Litter Wombles have collected over 1,000 bags of litter a week. Yes, 1,000 bags every week! Sometimes we can feel that our individual efforts
are not having an impact but the wombles prove that when many people act together, we can really make
a difference. I hope that everyone involved and those who appreciate the efforts of the Wombles feel encouraged to make other small changes to their lifestyles in order to take on other environmental challenges.
The Northants Litter Wombles group comprises of individuals and 40 local litter picking groups, including Oundle Waste Less, who might cover their local part of town, neighbourhood or village. We have been able to work with the local councils who collect our bags once we have finished and ultimately, we would love to work with communities and
businesses to reduce the amount of litter.
The team of volunteers at Oundle Waste Less
partnering Blooming Oundle have collected over 100 bags a month since the start of the year, helping to maintain the wonderful appearance of Oundle and the surrounding area.
Some members work alone, others work in pairs. Where COVID restrictions allow we have worked in small groups, transforming previously litter strewn areas once more into clean, tidy open spaces. For some it’s a daily
activity, for others a weekend hobby. We use our Facebook page to celebrate our successes, with before and after photos to help demonstrate the difference we are able to make to our community.
If you would like to join us and play a part in keeping your community tidy then please visit our Facebook page: Northants Litter Wombles, and our
sister page: Oundle Waste Less. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the difference we make to an area once we’ve picked up the litter, but you only need to look around to see that there is so much more we could be doing. We currently have over 2,000 members. The more members we have the cleaner our communities will be.
Nicola Elliott, Chief Womble
Litter Wombles have collected over 1,000 bags of litter a week
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