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It’s not just Lizzie and her #PlasticPatrol teams who have
been out cleaning up the waterways...take a look at some
of our members stories and get inspired to have a go too!
The man on a
mission to clean
up Birmingham’s
waterways
“ With a risk assessment in place
I do this in my own time as a
volunteer, working with other
groups such as Duck Watch,
Waterside Care, Park Rangers and
Waste Management.
“ I promote a clean and green
environment by talking to dog
walkers and duck feeders - letting
them know what I’m doing.
“My passion outside of work is canoeing and kayaking
and I am a member of Royal Sutton Coldfield Canoe
Club. Most weekends I’m on a river somewhere in
Wales but I have also paddled various rivers and
lakes in Northern England, Scotland, The French Alps,
Sweden and Massif Central in Southern France. We also recently heard from another one
of our members, Ken Handley who shared
photos of hauls he has collected whilst
out paddling. He stresses the importance
of everyone doing their bit to make the
waterways a cleaner place for us all to enjoy.
From Dave’s passion ‘Birmingham Lakes - Litter Picks
and Trips’ was born! “ The environmental and
Working as a street scene coordinator within
landlord services for the past two years opened
Dave’s eyes to the amount of dumped rubbish
that is out there - and now he is on a mission
to get around as many of Birmingham’s lakes
as possible, doing a water based litter pick. His challenge this year is to get around as many of
Birmingham’s lakes as possible doing a water based
litter pick.
commercial benefits of keeping
our waterways clean are huge.
“The health of our rivers is improving
year on year not least thanks to the
efforts of British paddlers - if we all
pick up a few bits next time we’re out
- together we can achieve a lot. ”
From a rusty old safe to traffic bollards
and laundry baskets, Dave Billingham has
found all sorts of strange items whilst out
paddling. We spoke to him about how he
has combined his passion for canoeing
and kayaking with his day job to raise
awareness to the amount of rubbish
and litter dumped in our waterways.