Trash Free Trails project manager Richard Breeden quotes David Attenborough in his email signature: ‘No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they haven’t experienced.’ He says this is the underlying ethos of everything Trash Free Trails does. ‘Our mission is twofold,’ he tells me. ‘To remove 75 percent of single-use pollution by 2025 and reconnect people with nature through purposeful adventure.’
High above Sheffield’s city skyline at Parkwood Springs, an almost-urban country park, I become one of the #TrashMob, soaring along the twisting trails and making up for my previous lack of litter-collecting interest in a joyous fashion. As a rookie mountain biker I approached the activity with some trepidation, worried that an overzealous swipe at a Coke can might land me upside down in shrubbery. But I discover that the majority of mess actually concentrates around stopping points, so I zip along with my fellow riders and take regular picking breaks.
The focus required to navigate the rough terrain, and the careful removal of rubbish, takes me to a flow state where I can think of little else. When we take a breather to enjoy the vast view, I’m surprised by how long we’ve been riding. Richard refers to this feeling as the ‘nature connection’. ‘It’s how much of nature you see in yourself and how connected to it you feel,’ he says. ‘It’s a feeling of oneness with nature. We feel that the pure and simple act of taking action to protect nature – whether it is picking up single-use pollution or something else – is a real catalyst for change in terms of self-esteem, confidence and overall wellbeing, and we’re trying to develop that in young people in particular.’
Trash Free Trails’ State of our Trails Report 2021 found that feelings of wellbeing directly correlated with the amount of rubbish rescued. What they’ve discovered is that litter collecting isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for us too.
Having experienced those positive feelings, I have to agree – the nature connection is a powerful reward for any would-be litter pickers. But surely more bins and government legislation around single-use plastic would be more effective?
‘More bins and more laws might be beneficial in some areas, but we’ve been adding bins and creating laws for some time now and the problem, as we see it, isn’t getting any better,’ Richard explains. ‘We think we can distil the issue down to one word: disconnection. If we were connected to wild places and the people who we share those spaces with (and by extension, ourselves), and spend resources attempting to reach an understanding among the public, the thought of dropping pollution with no care for nature will become a thing of the past.’
I can see his point. Spending an evening under the calming arms of a natural canopy, flying along trails with new friends and improving the city I call home, left me feeling happy and satisfied. David Sedaris’s daily pilgrimage suddenly doesn’t seem that unappealing. Perhaps, one day, Sheffield City Council will name a bin lorry after me too.
