Litter picking - combating an ongoing curse.
This work is probably the one that saddens us most. All of us hate to see our Village spoiled by dumped rubbish and no matter how many times we perform this task there always seems to be more to collect!
It can be very demoralising to see how little some people care about the environment and wildlife of our Village as well as seeing how little appreciation they have of the beautiful setting we all live in.
F.R.E.G, however, remains a group with a strong positive attitude and refuse to sit and complain when action can be taken instead.
We have tackled litter problems on both a large and small scale. As well as our personal attempts to keep the Village swept of this unsightly rubbish, we also liaise with the Environmental Services Department at Newark & Sherwood District Council who assist us with advice and removals when required. We will also pursue prosecutions through them if we can amass suitable evidence.
We have removed a number of incredible items that have been fly tipped in our Village. Old beds, a three piece suite, a canoe, numerous wheels, a mountain of polystyrene, a skip of dog poo (unbelievably bagged but still thrown in the hedge rows) and several dozen old tyres.
We are often shocked at some of the articles that have been dumped. Sadly urban life has touched Farndon and we have had our share of used syringes, stolen cars and even a pile of hazardous blue asbestos. This makes the task dangerous as well as unpleasant for group members. None of us enjoy this work but all of us are committed to working towards making it unnecessary.
Much of this rubbish is generated by people who live in the Village. We are tackling this through our projects, for example the "poop bins" sprang from our litter picking experiences. Our display stands at local events also serve to highlight the problem and hopefully educate people about the collective impact of individual actions.
Some of the rubbish is obviously being dumped by people from outside of the Village. The decision to charge at the Hawton tip and the easy accessibility of the fields and river, near the Marsh Lane roundabout, unfortunately attract fly tippers.
Future work will see us working with the Parish Council to erect no tipping notices.
At the time of writing we are also working with them to explore the possibility of putting a gate in place in this area.
We already have agreements with the Fishermen who use our local stretch as they do not enjoy the health risks of this unsightly rubbish either.
The Marina also seems to have generated an unhealthy amount of dumping into the Pits. As the Village now owns these we have a keen interest in stopping this in the future. The Managers at the Marina already actively police this issue and we work closely with them in discouraging this.
More importantly ALL of us individually have a part to play.
The brownies join us on regular litter picks and we are happy for their support and a chance to let youngsters see the bad side of littering & spread the message - DONT DO IT!
None of us should drop litter in the countryside, it can cause irreparable harm to wildlife, the environment, our pets or even our children. It is unsightly and some of it is dangerous.
One of our members felt so strongly about this that they made a personal plea to residents of the village via the Farndon Focus. Their article was printed in the December 2002 issue. If you would like to read then please open the document below.
We can ALL pick up dropped litter when we are out walking around the Village. This is a project that anyone can share in. We can ALL report rubbish when we see it and we can ALL be vigilant against outside fly tippers who seek to spoil our Village.
This project more than any hits three of F.R.E.G's primary aims:
Involve everybody in the Village.
Improve our environment.
Care for the Village wildlife & it's habitat.