#big cleanups

[cleaning-nature]

10/05-26 - Neglected Space

The transport administration promised me they'd send someone to pick up the trash I collected last time, but it's taking them some time... So, I figured I might as well clean up some more in that area, now that I know someone will be taking care of everything I collect.

This wooded area next to the road has always been very neglected. Trash accumulates there easily, but it's a dense area that's really difficult to navigate. This is also the area where I found the dog skeleton a few years back... I haven't gone back since purely because it's so difficult to walk around there. I didn't take many photos at all this time. All my focus was on cleaning up as much as possible while navigating the terrain. I'm glad I managed to do this now, before the vegetation has fully grown in.

Some trees were were uprooted in the Johannes storm. The large ones all had trash deeply embedded in the roots. This one had a glass bottle, the one I didn't take a photo of had a plastic straw, a dog poop bag, and a bunch of string stuck in it.

I also found this very old soda can that was almost entirely buried. I'm not sure when this type of can was discontinued, but it's possible it's from the 80s. There was also a whole lot of buried old plastic that was so fragile it crumbled to pieces if I wasn't careful.

I added the trash to everything I collected last time. The pile grew a lot more than I expected! I managed to collect 4 very full bags + some random large items. I only brought 2 bags with me, but I was able to reuse a couple of the bags I found in the woods. Some interesting finds was: a big sponge you use for washing cars, two very large cat treat bags, a long power cord, and some pieces of a decorated ceramic plate. The vast majority of the trash I picked up was plastic in various forms. I was litter picking in difficult terrain for 3 hours straight. I was so sweaty I looked like a drowned rat when I was done, and I ended up with a nasty headache because I hadn't rested and I hadn't brought any water. So... this is a reminder to please take breaks and drink water, don't be like me lol. I refuse to do any half-assed litter picking and that is simultaneously my greatest strength and my greatest weakness. That area is now cleaner than it's been in who knows how many years and I am really hoping the transport administration picks up the pile soon.

[cleaning-nature]

20/04-26 - Into The Woods

First order of business was to put up a sign in a spot where there's a makeshift firepit. This place is mostly surprisingly clean, but I figured a reminder would be good either way.

After that my plan was to clean up just a bit in that area, and then make my way up along the path where I've seen a bunch of litter. But I ended up having to pick up bits of string/rope for probably 30 minutes or so. It was absolutely everywhere! I'm unsure if it's kids or adults, or even just one person, but someone frequently builds "shelters" here. When they eventually collapse, the rope is just left behind. And then a new shelter is built, and the cycle continues. Pretty sure all of the rope I collected was a natural material, at least, but that doesn't mean it's okay to just leave tons of it in the woods... I ended up filling almost one entire bag with just rope.

Before leaving the woods, I found a golfball (I am nowhere near a golf course...) plus a very beat up football and a beanie.

And then the chaos begins... I had to kick the ball in front of me while I was moving up the path. At one point I spotted a small piece of plastic that eventually led me to a lot more. My current bag was already nearly full, and the one other bag I had with me was reserved for the mystery jelly. So I had to carry the bigger pieces on their own. Then I found one of those markers they place along the roads during winter. Wasn't supposed to be in the woods... so, I tried to carry that with me as well.

Then it was time to pick up all the Mystery Jelly. There was a LOT of it, and I had to fight my way in and out of an overgrown ditch to get a bunch of pieces. Just like I had expected, they were HEAVY! I was afraid the bag would break. It was at this point I realized I wouldn't be able to deal with all this trash myself. I had to take two separate trips to bring everything to the start of the path.

I picked up a couple other things nearby and put everything into one neat-ish pile. Photographed the pile + an overview of the area, so that I could report it to the municipality and ask them to pick everything up. They did pick up the big pile of things I reported last year, and that spot was just a few meters away from this one. I sent them the info the same evening and felt good about the whole thing.

The following morning I got a response saying they don't own that land/property, so... they'll do nothing. I investigated this the same day because it just didn't sound right. But accordning to their maps, apparently a housing company owns that patch of woods..? I still have trouble believing that's correct. I do know that the land closest to the railway is for sure owned by the transport administration, so I ended up contacting them instead. They replied with a generic "I've sent this to the proper departments" and I'm unsure if I'll hear back. Honestly, I'm really disappointed. It's always been a hassle to try to get ANY help whatsoever when I find lots of litter. First no one knows who would handle such a thing, and then you have to find out who owns the land, and so on and so forth. I don't understand why no one wants to cooperate! You'd think that encouraging and helping people who are cleaning up for free would be a win win for everyone but I guess not. Now that I know I can't expect any help, I'll have to start limiting myself more. It sucks and I'm really mad about it, but it's my only choice. I checked on the pile today and nothing's flown away, but the football is gone. Honestly not sure what I'll do next. Probably just have to wait a week or so, then figure out how to deal with the pile myself if no one wants to help. Going to end up stuffing everything into the trash cans at the bus stops if the transport administration won't help. Not ideal, but it is what it is.

[cleaning-nature]

19/04 & 20/04-24 - Spring Cleaning

The snow has finally melted quite a bit, so yesterday I went out for my very first litter picking session of 2024!

I picked up a full bag of trash + 5 glass bottles along a footpath close to my house. Found one more captain morgan bottle and two smaller blank bottles, managed to get them all to the recycling even though I made the mistake of only bringing one bag with me lol. I also found a single glove, a lot of cigarettes and cigarette packages, a pack of very soggy matches, and 4 full dog poop bags. In total I think I walked about 900 meters and it took me 1,5 hours.

When I was about to turn back and do the other side of the path, I saw this... but I had to get back to that another day because my bag was almost full. After this session I was totally exhausted, but I promised myself I'd get that taken care of soon so it didn't spread everywhere. So then I went out again today, with my only focus being the stuff in the woods.

Not quite sure what went down here... I could tell it was trash belonging to a family with kids (that drink a LOT of milk lol) but how it got there is a mystery to me. I wanna believe it got there by accident, but I feel like it had been left there deliberately. That one black bag had been tore open by birds I'm assuming, and then things spread absolutely everywhere. There were things I didn't take photos of that had spread pretty far away as well.

Picking up all the tiny stuff was time consuming, but I hate leaving anything behind, so everything had to go. Encouragement and thanks from a lady who I assume lives in one of the houses closest to this mess made it all worth it. She said it had been there for a while.

I ended up with one bag of recycling, one bag of mixed trash, and the rest of what was left in the black bag. One can of oven cleaner came home with me, it'll be properly disposed of as dangerous waste at the recycling center whenever I go next time. Overall a great start to this year's litter picking adventures!

[cleaning-nature]

08/06-23 - Nordic Coastal Cleanup Day

My second year participating! I planned to clean up the same area I cleaned last year, which was about a 1 km long stretch along the water. I thought there might not be anything to pick up, because I'd heard something about people litter picking there not too long ago... Boy was I wrong. This area by the water, pretty much right at the start of the stretch I was gonna walk, ended up being the one place I cleaned during the two hours I was out.

It's hard to try to explain just how much trash there was (and still is) in this relatively small area. You can just keep digging through the reeds and find more and more. I had to leave a bunch of small pieces behind, because they were just impossible to grab with my litter picker and I just did not have the time to sit and pick out every little thing.

Found various interesting things, and some large things I couldn't get rid off myself. There is also a bunch of random pieces of wood there for some reason? I did call the municipality and they said they'd try to let the right people know about it, so hopefully it gets picked up... But it really is a nightmare to try and find out who's actually responsible for an area, and to then get someone out there is even harder.

I plan on going back at some point, this area really needs some more love. I'd like to pick up all the tiny things and maybe gather up the wood into one pile. There was a tire that definitely had not gotten there on its own, and a mystery circle in the water that I couldn't reach. I ended up with three bags in total.

Overall this day was very successful even if I didn't clean the whole stretch I had planned. There's an area close by that's full of shattered glass, so I have my work cut out for me this summer!

[cleaning-nature]

The dog poop stash

Not sure how I managed to take such shaky photos, but here's a memorable cleanup project from May 2022. I was litter picking in an area where there's a fence preventing you from accessing this steep area with train tracks below. I spotted this pile just on the other side of the fence. You'd have to actually have gone out of your way and reached over the fence for this all to get there, so it was obviously done on purpose. I was able to reach pretty well with my litter picker, but the fence is pretty tall so it took some effort to reach over all the way to the ground. At first I thought it was just the remnants of someone's picnic trip, some to go coffee cups, candy wrappers, paper plates, juice boxes, etc. But then I kept finding dog poop bags, full and tied up! In the end I think there were about 8-10 of them, there was only one bag I had to leave because I couldn't reach it. I'm hoping whoever used this as their personal dumping ground saw that it had been cleaned up, and felt so ashamed when they realized someone knew what they were doing that they stopped leaving their dog poop bags in nature. But if we're gonna be honest, people like this probably have no shame in their body, so my hopes aren't high. Just leave the dog poop on the ground if you think it's too much of a hassle to take it to a trash bin... And maybe consider not owning a dog at all if you're gonna do shit like this!

[cleaning-nature]

2021 Highlights

Hi all! I'm Sniff and I pick up litter in my corner of Sweden. This blog is a way to document my adventures and to bring attention to the litter in my area. You can read more about me/this blog in my about. I figured I'd start off with some highlights from 2021, since that was the year I started litter picking as a hobby.

I went on my first litter picking adventure in May. One of the very first things I found was this mangled PlayStation controller. It came home with me and was eventually taken to the electronics section of the recycling center.

Another interesting find was this beater from an electric mixer that I found in a ditch beside the road. It was also eventually taken to the recycling center.

I tackled my first big cleanup project at the end of may. I picked up the remnants of a party that someone had left in a ditch beside my favorite path in a wooded area. I believe someone had gone out of their way to dump it there, perhaps a teen that wanted to hide the evidence from their parents? I ended up with one very heavy bag full with glass bottles, one bag with various trash, and a backpack.

Along the same path I then spotted this mystery fluff that must've been from something like a pillow or a plush. Seeing it every time I took a walk was driving me nuts, so eventually I painstakingly picked it all up, although it was impossible to get every little piece that had spread along the path. The fluff could've been made from something totally harmless, but it was an eyesore either way.

I ordered a free litter picking kit (gloves + bags) from Keep Sweden Tidy in preparation for their big litter picking day, that I then participated in. It was a gloomy day and I considered not going out after all since it might rain, but I did anyway and I got two very full bags of trash. 2021 was the year I stopped being able to ignore litter, which is both a blessing and a curse. I now notice litter everywhere all the time and I mentally note down places I can go litter picking. This hobby is a way for me to make a real difference and I'm very happy I discovered it. Looking forward to going on more adventures than ever during 2023!