These little acts can have an enormous impact
Gillian Harvey chats to Dom Ferris about his mission to clean up plastic pollution from nature trails.
DOM FERRIS doesn’t want us to focus on our hatred of litter. The forty-twoyear-old founder of Trash Free Trails – an organisation that supports the monitoring and cleaning up of plastic pollution from woodlands – wants us to embrace a more positive message.
“I want people to focus on restoring the natural beauty of their surroundings rather than the things that spoil it,” he explains.
The former Surfers Against Sewage organiser came up with the idea for his Trash Free Trails movement in 2014, after realising how important natural areas are to people.
“It took three years to get it off the ground,” Dom says. “I wanted to really understand the problem before working out the best solution.”
Conducting research into environmental impact, Dom was surprised to find there was little data available.
“Despite evidence suggesting that up to twenty-three times more plastic pollution escapes into the terrestrial environment as opposed to the ocean environment, there’s very little science on the impact,” he explains.
“Pollution in natural areas reduces people’s enjoyment and their sense of connection with nature, which is a powerful wellbeing tool,” he says.
“We also know from a small study in Norfolk that one in eight plastic bottles or abandoned cans found on the roadside had animal remains in them – mice and shrews, for example, will climb in to seek out sugar then be unable to escape.”
It was in 2016, after a difficult time, that Dom finally felt ready to launch.
“In 2015, I was travelling a lot between Cornwall, where I live, and Wales, as my father was very ill,” he says.
“Mountain biking became more important to me as a way of reconnecting with childhood friends and places, and decompressing.”
Dom’s realisation of the importance of woodland trails and natural areas helped him to make the final leap.
“I was seeing increasing amounts of pollution – and it was the tipping point. It was no longer something I thought I ‘could’ do, but something I ‘had’ to do.
“In January 2017, I started talking about Trash Free Trails from my perspective on social media and hoped that people would come and share their thoughts with me – and that’s what happened.
“I was really lucky – I’ve made lifelong friends who share the same values as a result.”
Since Dom’s social-media post, Trash Free Trails has helped thousands of volunteers to tackle the problem collectively.
“It’s all about breaking it up into bite-size chunks,” Dom explains.
“Helping people see how they can become part of the solution.”
With the help of volunteers, Dom also hopes to gather important data about the extent and impact of plastic pollution, in his “State of Our Trail Report”, an academic research project being conducted in partnership with Bangor University.
Dom also hopes to help youngsters establish a connection with nature through what he calls “Purposeful Adventure” and encourage them to improve their local trails, through his Trashmob Academy programme, launched in 2020. ■
For more information about Trash Free Trails call 07875 316263 or visit www.trashfreetrails.org.