Wick Paths Group is on an 'upstream battle' after litter emergency declared
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A volunteer group in Wick is looking for help to tidy up the town's riverside area as part of a Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) national campaign.
The Upstream Battle Week of Action is taking place across January 20 - 28 and Wick Paths Group (WPG) is looking for volunteers to help clean up the riverside area on Sunday, January 28 (meeting at the riverside car park at 10am).
WPG secretary John Bogle explained: “We are pleased to join in this national Keep Scotland Beautiful campaign.
"We plan to have a limited number of volunteers picking and recording litter over a measured area upstream from the boating shed at the riverside, with other volunteers picking but not recording litter outwith the reference area.
"We are delighted that we will be joined by members of Caithness Kayak Club who will retrieve litter from the river and inaccessible river banks. We are inviting members of the public to join with Wick Paths Group members on this day and help to clean up our town. I would also like to thank the numerous individuals who are picking up litter on their walks around the town on a daily basis – their efforts are much appreciated.”
Scotland has a litter emergency and with 80 per cent of marine litter starting its life on land, the issue needs to be addressed, says the campaign organiser. Upstream Battle aims to tackle marine litter from its source before it ends up in our waterways.
KSB says it is "killing wildlife, threatening ecosystems and habitats, and is extremely difficult and expensive" to clean up. It invites local groups and individuals to raise awareness of marine litter and encourages everyone to address the issue in their local rivers and streams for the benefit of people, rivers and streams.
The charity for Scotland's environment wants to use this week to spread awareness of marine litter, promote the campaign nationally and encourage as many marine litter surveys as possible to contribute to a national data set for Scotland and work on addressing the problem at its cause.
Wick Paths Group (WPG), which regularly carries out litter picks around the town, has agreed to take part in the national campaign and has arranged the litter pick on Sunday, January 28 meeting at the riverside car park at 10am.
