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Balderdasha's 2021 litter picking thread

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    Still doing quite a lot of litter picking at the moment as the walks give me some exercise and fresh air and the litter picking gives me a focus.

    I'm doing well but I can still tell I need to be on anti-psychotics because I can identify the things that would have made me paranoid / delusional if I wasn't on them. Yesterday, for example, I found a piece of note paper with two pieces of tape stuck to it in a bush. It said, in child's handwriting:

    "Hello,
    I'm (daughter's first name)
    I'm a piece of paper stuck to a bench.
    Nice to meet you and I hope you have a nice day.
    From (Daughter's name, plus different surname)"

    Now, I know that the piece of paper was real because I showed it to my children and the obvious logical solution is that it's a child having fun who wrote the note, stuck it to a bench but it then blew away in the wind and ended up in the hedge where I found it.

    If I was not an anti-psychotics though, this would be an almost tailor-made event to send me into delusional / paranoid thoughts like "Did I imagine it?", "Is the universe sending messages to my daughter?", "Is someone nefarious trying to groom my daughter via messages taped to the benches in the park?", "Is my daughter trying to mess with my head?", "Is someone stalking me while I litter pick?", etc, etc.

    So glad that I sought help when I did.

    Son also found two pence in the sandpit.

    Total litter picking expeditions to date: 64 ​​​
    Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 92
    Money found to date: £2.69.

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      Today's litter picking expedition was prematurely cut short by my son throwing himself off his scooter and us having to return home to tend to his (minor) wounds. But when we went back out to the park once he'd got paw patrol plasters securely in place, we found a shiny five pence piece.

      Total litter picking expeditions to date: 65 ​​​
      Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 93
      Money found to date: £2.74.

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        Did you tell him it was a gift from the Scooter Accident Fairy?

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          Don't do that, he'll be driving into every tree he sees.

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            Inspired by Balderdasha, my partner and I did some litter picking around our local nature reserve yesterday, managed to fill one of those charity bags that get chucked through the door. Didn't find any pennies, shiny or otherwise.

            Later the same day, I managed to damage my back whilst gardening, diminishing any belief in karma that I may have had. Will still do some litter picks in the future, once I stop moving like an 80 year old.

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              The grassed centre of our close has been mown today so I've just gone out to pick up as much of the now exposed detritus as I could see. The volume of chewed gardening gloves hammered home the fact that the area is essentially now just a fox cubs' playground.

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                I picked a couple of bags on a lunchtime walk today. Also took the opportunity to scour for any nerf gun bullets left behind from our party. I found three in tact and two that had been sliced by the lawnmower that's been round since the party.

                Total litter picking expeditions to date: 66 ​​​
                Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 95
                Money found to date: £2.74.

                Comment


                  I picked a big of litter this morning on the way to the shop. I needed a walk so went to get a bag of potatoes for a Sunday roast, and litter picking on the way extends the walk a bit. Unusual finds included an iPhone charging cable that had been sliced into pieces by the park lawnmower and a chocolate coin still in its blue superman foil packaging, which my kids would have been horrified at me binning if they had seen it.


                  Total litter picking expeditions to date: 67 ​​​
                  Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 96
                  Money found to date: £2.74 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                  Comment


                    Picked another bag of litter today on our way to and from crayfish fishing in the nearby nature reserve. No particularly unusual litter finds. The crayfish were the excitement for today (see the urban wildlife tales thread for photos).

                    Total litter picking expeditions to date: 68 ​​​
                    Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 97
                    Money found to date: £2.74 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                    Comment


                      I found 5p on the pavement the other day and I didn't even have a scooter accident.

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                        Picked a bag of litter on the way back from the nature reserve yesterday. Kids and husband had been using the litter picker to catch signal crayfish again. Found a bright yellow children's umbrella fully in tact. Left it on a bench in case its owner wanted to reclaim it.

                        Total litter picking expeditions to date: 69 ​​​
                        Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 98
                        Money found to date: £2.74 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                        Comment


                          I'm exhausted after traveling to work yesterday, so instead of going to the gym I had an afternoon nap and went for a litter picking walk. I went up to the local shop because there's a big seam of litter there that's been annoying me for a few weeks. Picked two large bags. Unusual finds included lots of McDonald's salt and pepper packets, a red Duplo block and a red school tie. A man said thank you to me and said he used to do a lot of litter picking but his girlfriend thought she was going to catch diseases from it so he stopped. I found a ten pence piece and a five pence piece but they were stuck together by chewing gum so I left them where they were. Then I found another clean looking five pence piece which I've brought back for son's piggy bank. I'm counting the full twenty pence in my tally though because it's my thread and I can do what I like.

                          I've reached one hundred bags of litter collected so far this year.

                          Total litter picking expeditions to date: 70 ​​​
                          Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 100
                          Money found to date: £2.94 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                          Comment


                            I've been litter picking not once but twice today. Once at lunchtime with husband in tow as my litter spotter on a walk around the park and once this evening while daughter was at brownies. Unusual finds included a large neon yellow plastic tent peg, a red marijuana grinder lid, and a paper note bearing my daughter's middle name written on it in Sharpie. Fortunately her middle name is not that rare so I can dismiss this as mere coincidence.


                            Total litter picking expeditions to date: 72 ​​​
                            Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 103
                            Money found to date: £2.94 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                            Comment


                              I don't think I've ever seen a marijuana grinder.

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                                Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                                I don't think I've ever seen a marijuana grinder.
                                It had a marijuana leaf printed on it which was a bit of a giveaway but maybe it was just used for grinding tobacco.

                                Comment


                                  I picked a bag of litter last week. Don't remember any unusual finds. But then we've had a bit of a rollercoaster with finding money. Son found two pence on the way to Legoland but then dropped it on a London escalator. Then in Legoland, I found a pound coin, tried to use it in an air hockey machine, which didn't work, so then I claimed it back from reception (I'd also put two fifty pence pieces in the machine before I found the pound otherwise I might not have bothered to complain).


                                  Total litter picking expeditions to date: 73 ​​​
                                  Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 104
                                  Money found to date: £3.96 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                                  Comment


                                    Picked one bag of litter yesterday on a lunchtime walk with husband, trying to shake me out of an anxiety rut before a big work meeting. Only unusual find was a big bristly paintbrush.

                                    Total litter picking expeditions to date: 74 ​​​
                                    Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 105
                                    Money found to date: £3.96 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                                    Comment


                                      I went litter picking today for only the second time in the last two to three months. I've been trying to go for a short walk each day and I'd started noticing all the litter in the local area. No unusual finds today, just a big bag of sodden face masks, wet wipes and sweet wrappers. I'm also adding in the one walk I did with my mum about a month ago.

                                      This might be my last litter pick of the year so I've managed to clear over 100 bags of litter this year. Not bad going.

                                      Total litter picking expeditions to date: 76 ​​​ Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 107
                                      Money found to date: £3.96 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.

                                      Comment


                                        I picked another bag of litter on the way to the gym today. Maybe I'll do another thread like this for next year as it is good for my mental health. Lots of cans and bottles today plus a plastic hanger and a neon yellow pen.

                                        Total litter picking expeditions to date: 77 ​​​
                                        Total bags of rubbish collected to date: 108
                                        Money found to date: £3.96 plus a fake £50 note on a playing card and a chocolate coin.
                                        Last edited by Balderdasha; 28-12-2021, 14:10.

                                        Comment


                                          Amazing work, Balders. A selfless and lovely thing you do.

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