If you’re feeling despondent about things, the least you can do to cheer yourself up is head out for a run/ride/walk, and leave a positive trace on the universe by picking up any litter you see.
Cue: guest post from the marvellous Trash Free Trails crew!
We’re on a mission to (re)connect people with nature through, what we believe is, the beautiful, yet very simple act of, removing single-use pollution (you might know it as ‘litter’) from the places we love. We’re striving for a Trash Free Future; we are Trash Free Trails.
As a smallnormous organisation we’ve had a number of ‘big’ years since our inception. 2025 is another of those and marks a turning point for us, one where we shift from producing a cure for the problem of single-use pollution, and instead focusing on how we can prevent it entering the ecosystems we care about in the first place.
We believe single-use pollution is a symptom of disconnection, one that we can tackle one person, one trail at a time.
This is where our new campaign These Are My Trails comes in. They’re yours too; they’re for everyone. The outside is a place where everyone should feel welcomed and a place where we should be able to ride, run and roam without encountering single-use pollution.
Through a series of custom designed trail signage, using only positive messaging, and theory based behaviour change, Trash Free Trails are able to have a presence on the trail, without having to be there in person. We’ve selected 11 special trail locations to watch, monitor and observe across the country.
How does it work, we hear you ask?
Well it all starts with a trail, a place we love. Our HQ and A-TEAM have each identified one that is special to them, from Porthtowan to Peebles – and everywhere in between. We’ve got riders, runners and roamers who have taken up our call to bring Trash Free Trails to these beloved places. At each location you’ll find a GeoTrash Box – an ammo box to arm against single-use pollution. Gloves, trash bags and a handy QR code to report your data and leave a positive trace when you visit these trails.
So what?
We believe in leading by example and have long understood that traditional anti-litter signage clearly isn’t working. You only have to look at the 156 items removed from the Gwydir Forest car park prior to Dom’s sign being installed to realise that. While our signage tugs on heart strings and is a little tongue-in-cheek, the GeoTrash Box does some of the heavy lifting. It’s now down to you, recreational trail users, to pick up the baton and do your bit to look after the trails and the places we all love.
Over the course of the year we’ll be recording how effective these signs are in reducing the amount of single-use pollution found on these trails. All locations have been subject to a full Trash Survey or Trash Count prior to the install so we have a base level on what’s out there (or what’s now not).
Within the GeoTrash Box is a check list for individuals to complete when they head on a trail clean of their own. We’ll know how many times the trails have been cleaned and the amount of single-use pollution removed through our State of Our Trails Report. Together, we’ll use that data and the responses from the public to know what and where things work best.
Through ‘These Are My Trails’ our hope is to turn littering from a thoughtless act, to a considered one. One that, once considered, is not followed through. We’re preventing single-use pollution from escaping into the environment and inspiring action.
One trail, one person, at a time. Are you in?
If you live near one of these trails, please get involved!
And wherever you live, you can support trash free trails as an individual (or school) by taking on the responsibility of leaving a positive trace on your next outing. 👍
