INITIATIVE TO TACKLE FRUIT LITTER SCANDAL
ON Saturday scores of bright-eyed volunteers in day-glo tabards ascended Snowdon armed with bin bags and litter pickers.
Of the 300kg discarded items they expected to collect, a few would invariably surprise: past litter picks on Britain’s mountains have unearthed human ashes, a sex toy and an unopened bottle of whiskey.
One volunteer even reported finding an octopus, presumably plastic.
More mainstream finds include barbecues, tents, sleeping bags and clothing – commonly underpants. Human excrement, toilet paper and used tampons are an increasing problem too. Then there are the items that are always guaranteed to be lying around: crisp packets, plastic bottles, cans, straws, dog poo bags and carrier bags.
What may surprise some is that a big culprit is fruit peel. Real3Peaks Challenge volunteers expect to find kilos of discarded orange peel, apple cores and banana skins.
On one litter pick on Ben Nevis this summer, 8kg of banana skins were collected in just two days.
For this reason conservation teams have called on visitors to rethink their “organic litter”, which can take up to two years to decompose in the cool of the mountains.
Later this year the Snowdonia Society plans to launch a campaign that aims to educate visitors about the problem.
Discarded fruit peel, it says, is not just unsightly, it can alter the delicate ecology of the uplands.
Society director John Harold said: “We think it’s an awareness issue. People who would not dream of leaving their crisp packets and plastic bottles behind, think it’s OK to discard fruit peel because it will degrade. At home they may have seen their orange peels and banana skins quickly disappear on the garden compost heap, but in the mountains the process takes much longer.”
Mountaineering instructor Mike Raine conducted his own “biodegradable experiment” above Capel Curig in 2015. His fruits – an apple, orange and banana – took six months to disappear at 195 metres. As temperatures fall 1C per 100 metres of ascent, it’s estimated that fruit discarded near Snowdon’s 1,085-metre summit will take more than two years to degrade.
With so many fruit skins lying around, you might think the native fauna might take advantage. Sheep are known to be partial to bananas (and anything else yellow) and there are apocryphal tales of ewes stalking Snowdon’s fruit-guzzling walkers.
However they could choke on the skins – another reason why the problem needs tackling.
Snowdon’s litter issue is magnified by the mountain’s popularity. Since 1999 when counting began, using devices adapted from bat roost counters, Snowdon’s visitor numbers have risen steadily to around 550,000 walkers a year. And 2018 was particularly busy, with numbers up 7.5%, thanks to the long hot summer. Even at 2am up to 300 people were at the summit, usually those attempting long-distance challenges.
All of which means rubbish quickly piles up. On one day in 2017, Real3Peaks volunteers picked up 570kg of rubbish from 20 mountain locations, almost half of it from Snowdon alone.
As installing bins along the major access routes is neither desirable nor practical, Peter Rutherford, the Snowdonia National Park Authority’s access officer, said there was only one simple solution.
“Our advice is that whatever goes up should go down,” he said.
The same principle should apply to single-use plastic bottles, although the Snowdonia Society believes a longer term solution is needed.
In another of its targeted projects, it will be promoting the use of multi-use bottles: last year the Real3Peaks team collected 229 single-use plastic bottles on Snowdon, all with an expected decomposition time of 450 years.
Local businesses wanting to enhance their green credentials will be encouraged to adopt the Refill app, which signposts free drinking water on the go.
Supplying walkers with refills at the summit, however, may prove more challenging.
“Litter like fruit peel might seem trivial but it’s not,” added Mr Harold. “We know we are never going to stop all littering on Snowdon, but by focusing on specific areas, and providing all the right information, we believe we can make a difference.”