On Sunday 15 May, Cardiff Rivers Group returned to a littering and fly-tipping blackspot — Faendre Reen in St Mellons, which, sadly, has become a disgrace to both to St Mellons and Cardiff.
The event attracted a terrific turnout, with over 30 people from a variety of organisations, including Cardiff Parks, Keep Wales Tidy, Friends of Bute Park, Pentewan ‘litter champions’, and the St David’s Hotel & Spa, plus the usual (perhaps that should be unusual) suspects from CRG.
The site was surveyed in March and there are 29 photos on Facebook of the filth and rubbish we expected.
Together the volunteers gathered over 4 truck loads of rubbish, ranging from unwanted (and remarkably new-looking) children’s toys, clothing, duvet, kitchen utensils, domestic appliances — TVs, vacuum cleaners, toasters and suchlike — and numerous bags of miscellaneous rubbish. Much of it was stuff that irresponsible residents had just thrown over their garden fences rather than put out for collection.
But this week’s “star finds” were an electric quad bike, which was causing a major blockage in the stream, and an unopened bottle of champagne!
Many of the items were perfectly suitable for re-use or recycling, so it was particularly disappointing to see them just thrown away. Volunteers did their best to find a home for some of the recovered items, and salvaged plant pots, hanging baskets, scrap metal, and a load of wooden boards, amongst other things.
See more photos of the event on our Flickr page.
Group member, Louise Tambini said,
“It is tragic that in these times of austerity we live in such a throw-away society. I can’t believe how many things we found in the stream today that have simply been discarded when they could easily have be re-used. I would like to make a plea to people to dispose of unwanted goods responsibly by taking them to charity shops, or using services such as freecycle, and NOT causing damage to local habitats by throwing them in nearby woods or watercourses.”
And Dave King, event organiser for CRG said,
“This is another great example of collaborative partnership working , making a positive difference to the environment in Cardiff. By working together, the public sector, third sector, business and the community can collectively really make a tremendous difference in such a short time, and have fun doing it! The only disappointment was that no locals actually showed up, although a few people did ask about future events they could help with.”
Our thanks, once again, to Cardiff Council Parks Service, who promptly disposed of all the rubbish collected.
After the event, several thirsty volunteers enjoyed a well-deserved pint in the beer garden at The Fox & Hounds, Chapel Row.
Our next event is on Saturday 4 June — keep an eye on our calendar of Upcoming Events for more details nearer the time.