29.01.11 Blackweir End of January Clean Up

This Saturday (29th) we are lucky to have a joint event with Cardiff Rivers Group and 170 volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in partnership with Keep Wales Tidy and Cardiff Council Parks Department. We will be meeting at Blackweir Bridge on the River Taff at 10.30 am. The map below shows a rough plan of what areas we hope to cover. Litterpickers have been drafted in from all over Cardiff to supply this massive event. Anyone is welcome to come along and join in, but don't bring your best clothes.
For more information contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org.


View 29.01.11 Blackweir "We Will for Wales" in a larger map

23.01.11 I Will For Wales and Litter Champions

Some of you may know already that we have just launched a new campaign called "I will for Wales". This encourages people to sign up to a New Year's Resolution that will help care for your local environment and improve the look and feel of your community.

The campaign aims to encourage people to make small lifestyle changes that collectively will have a huge impact on the environment and people's pockets, and will rid Wales of graffiti, chewing gum, discarded plastic bags, dog mess and cigarette butts.

When you sign up, you will be entered into a prize draw to win a brand new Amazon Kindle e-reader!! For more details visit here.

In any case, I signed up and pledged to help take care of my local LNR and also to be a litter champion.
On Saturday, I took a load of my rubber work gloves which were by now pretty stinking to a local(ish) launderette for a service wash in Fairwater, Cwmbran (Map). The litter between the car park and the shops was so shocking that I wondered what other visitors to this small independent shopping arcade must think. I took some photos for my own records.

Very messy

The next day, I was so irked by what I'd seen, I decided to do something about it, even though I didn't live there. I picked up my litterpicker and some bags and set to the site as a newly signed up Keep Wales Tidy Litter Champion. Some of the pictures are shown below.

Before and Afters

Four hours later and the place was transformed. Several people thanked me for my efforts including the local PCSO; I was very pleased. I collected 4 bags of mixed recycling and 2 bags of litter; not bad for a Sunday afternoon's volunteering. So far, the pledge "I Will for Wales" runs true. When you sign up as a litter champion, you get your own litterpicker, gloves, Fairtrade t-shirt, poncho and insurance (just in case) as well as a safety briefing and support from your regional KWT officer.

 Results of my toil.

Full Slideshow

21.01.11 Pentwyn Latch Wood Cardiff Friday Mornings Project

Map
Date: 21.01.11
Time: 9.30 - 14.45
Photo Slideshow
The Cardiff Friday Mornings Project had a tough task today. When we arrived, the ground was frozen and this patch of woods was packed full of rubbish. The margins of the wood alongside the north end of Pentwyn Drive were packed full of beer and soft drinks cans and fast food containers.

Slideshow of the event

The woods behind Glyn Eiddew and Marle Close contained larger domestic fly-tipping. One resident said that some fly tipping had just been removed by the council and the first 5 bags we picked up were dumped since then.

Movie of the collected rubbish



Today we had 3 volunteers from LS Healthcare, 3 from Cardiff Rivers Group, Lucy (Tidy Towns Officer from Cardiff CC) and myself. We collected in total 56 bags of rubbish, 2 broken bicycles,2 broken motorised scooters, pink paddling pool, parts of a stripped down car including radiator and a steering block, carpets, 2 traffic cones, green wheelie bin, 3 car batteries, 3 motorbike/scooter batteries, 2 Christmas trees, 1 tree cutting sign, one large highway bollard, child's tricycle, 1 duvet, 3 tyres and a selection of childrens toys.
There is no Cardiff Friday Mornings Project next week as I will be at the St. Mellons forum.

For more information contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org

14.01.11 Pontprennau Pond Work

Location: Greenacre Drive just off Heol Pontprennau
Date: 14.01.11
Time: 10- 12
Flickr Slideshow
In partnership with Cardiff Council's Parks Department we helped to rejuvinate this threatened pond habitat.

Overtime, willow trees have grown up in and around this pond which is causing serious harm to its status. This is due to overshading, eutrophication due to excessive leaf litter and drying out. To address these problems, earlier in the week we coppiced some of the pre-marked willow trees, dragged them out of the pond and stacked them for chipping and recycling for compost. In total, five tipperloads of willow was taken away for composting and 2-bags of litter were collected from in and around the pond.

Today's work continued on from the work performed by volunteers on the Tuesday. The rain that fell on Thursday 13th was so fierce, the water levels in the pond rose by almost a foot. This meant the easy access part was tricky, the island was submerged and the trees on the bank were now in the pond.

Today, we had Rhian from KWT (who is also a local resident), John (a Cardiff River's Group volunteer) and 5-vols from LS Healthcare. By the end of play, we had cleared all of the marked up trees ready for chipping and collected another bag of litter.

For more information contact Chris Partridge by Email: chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org

or telephone: 07717 412 270