Litter-Picking 忍者 Ninjas

An elite, inclusive, overground network creating beauty & respect

Picking litter? You are not alone! You are part of an elite overground network of litter-picking 忍者 ninjas.

I pick litter because I love beauty. While it’s easy to get angry at people who litter, I do my best to exercise compassion — how terrible it must be to feel unworthy of beauty. Not taking care of nature is not taking care of yourself — throwing litter demonstrates a lack of self-respect. By litter-picking, we ninjas increase respect; respect for oneself, respect for others and respect for nature. We create more beautiful spaces for all to enjoy.

Litter spoils the pleasures of nature. Recently I’ve been enjoying the fields near Ixworth — Walsham Road and Woolpit Road — walking around the mostly flat Suffolk countryside overlooking Pakenham windmill. But the pleasure of this walk was shattered by the endless trail of plastic, glass bottles, cans, crisp packets, chocolate wrappers and unidentifiable waste. The first time I picked litter, the bag got so heavy so quickly that I couldn’t carry it home. I returned and filled a second bag in less than 25 metres. Now I’ve filled four bin bags and still haven’t finished litter-picking the loop. And that’s only on one side of the road.

What lessons can we learn from litter-diversity? Brightly coloured liquids fail in their marketing claim as ‘energy drinks’ since people who drink them don’t even have the energy to put the can into a bin…