Mountain of waste found in peak clean-up

AS Britain’s highest peak, it attracts thousands of walkers and climbers every year.

But that popularity comes at a cost – as the visitors drop a lot of rubbish.

In the latest bid to combat the problem, volunteers have picked up nearly 375lb (170kg) of items from the slopes of 4,411ft Ben Nevis – including part of a toilet, a military flare and underwear.

The operation at the weekend was part of a project dubbed the Real3Peaks Challenge, in which hills across the UK were cleaned up.

The Scottish Daily Mail has led the drive to tackle the blight of plastic waste and last year successfully campaigned for the introduction of a bottle return scheme.

On Ben Nevis, near Fort William, Inverness-shire, where around 100,000 people reach the summit each year, the items collected on Saturday filled 34 bags.

Mountain guide Rich Pyne, the founder of the challenge, said: ‘The summit itself was a complete mess, which was a real shame as the rest of the hill looked very promising after the clean-up which took place a month ago by the John Muir Trust.

‘We spent an hour there, and ended up with approximately three bin bags each. Quite a load to carry for five miles.’

He added: ‘Our finds were quite a huge amount of the normal types, plus some oddballs.’

These included poo bags, toilet roll and wipes, plastic and glass bottles, cans, hats, socks, T-shirts, scarves, plastic bags, memorials, cigarette ends, female hygiene products, lighters, sweet wrappers, crisp packets, an umbrella, a sleeping bag, beach shelter, half a boot, and a pair of jeans.

Mr Pyne said: ‘It’s quite a lot, especially considering that the hill is litter-picked regularly, by the trusts, charities, volunteers, hillwalkers and the majority of mountain professionals that work here.

‘If every person that went on Ben Nevis took down one piece of litter, the hill would be pristine in about 18 months. Just a thought. We are making a difference and it is wonderful to be able to give something back to the places we visit and love.’

The Real3Peaks Challenge was started as a litter blitz on Snow highest don, in Wales, Scafell Pike, in the Lake District, and Ben Nevis.

It was devised by mountain guides angered by the rubbish they saw as they helped clients round the Three Peaks Challenge, in which the aim is to climb the points of Wales, England and Scotland within 24 hours.

Over the past five years, volunteers have removed 2.4 tons of litter from popular UK mountains.

During last year’s Ben Nevis clean-up, more than 264lb of rubbish was removed.

On Ben Lomond at the weekend, volunteers collected 14 bags of rubbish. The Fairy Pools on Skye, which attracted around 108,000 visitors last year, were also cleaned.

In his report, Adrian Trendall wrote: ‘We did a circuit around the main car park and removed a shocking amount of beer bottles, cans and plastic bottles. I can half understand some of the litter such as crisp bags and sweet wrappers being blown away by the wind but glass bottles etc must have been deliberately thrown in the undergrowth.

‘More shocking was the amount of toilet paper and associated human waste, a problem that will hopefully be solved with the opening of toilets on site by next Easter.

‘Lastly, it was to the pools themselves which were relatively clean, although the high winds may well have played there part here.

‘Lots of tissues/wipes and cigarette ends and chewing gum were cleared.

‘Apparently these aren’t deemed to be rubbish by the many people who visit this wonderful environment then thoughtlessly discard them.’

He said he felt sad to see how the site has been ‘trashed by its own popularity’ in recent years.

‘Both sides of the road are severely eroded by thoughtless parking,’ he said. ‘A decent path has been built to the pools but either side it is a quagmire where the vegetation has been trampled and destroyed.

‘It has become an instant mustvisit place and once visited people move on to their next destination leaving behind detritus.’

The Daily Mail’s Turn The Tide On Plastic campaign has also fought for major reductions in the amount of plastic waste being dumped in the world’s oceans.

‘Thoughtlessly discard them’