"Ditch Pigs" Camino Cleanup 2015

[Rebekah Scott]

As long as "pilgrims" keep leaving trash along the camino, we'll keep cleaning it up!
We're the Ditch Pigs, and we've been hauling trash off the Palencia parts of the trail for YEARS now... And YOU can join in the filth and the fun!

Four people already are signed on for Ditch Pigs 2015, (they're flying in from UK and Switzerland) and it's a week earlier this year: the fun starts on 28 November, and goes on (usually) for four or five days. We cover the 80+ kilometers of meseta trail from San Nicolas de Puente Fitero all the way to Sahagun... and sometimes to Calzada del Coto! Hospitaleros who served Federation postings in 2015 can now become Ditch Pigs, and attend the big Encuentro de Hospis as well!

The work is strenuous, equipment is crude, weather is iffy... and your reward will not be in this world, unless good company, decent provisions, and a roof over your head count for anything.

Those who can't (or won't) pick up trash can help by contributing money to our Lunch Fund, which buys our meals and fuels the furgoneta that ferries us and our "discoveries" up and down The Way.

Camino Cleanup is a project of Peaceable Kingdom Moratinos. Step right up if you'd like to help out.

 

[wayfarer]

You guys do great work, count me in for support, but I don't know if I can make it there at that time.

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi Reb. Sign me up. I'll be there "if the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise".

 

[jsalt]

Dammit, would love to sign up, but can’t do those dates this year. Please direct me to your Lunch Fund so I can make a contribution. And when you know the dates for next year, please let us know, so I can plan my camino around it. Thanks! Jill

 

[Rebekah Scott]

you can donate via the PayPal button on the Peaceable blog: www.moratinoslife.blogspot.com

 

[Lynda t]

I have donated. I hope it is to the correct site. Wish I could be there.

 

[tyrrek]

Looking forward to it!

 

[Stephen]

Donated. It's unlikely I'll be able to make it but I'll be there in spirit.

 

[t2andreo]

Dangit! I was planning to fly over to help this year. Then my wife decided we were moving from Virginia to Florida. On returning from my month in Santiago, we had the house listed with an agent within three days of my return. Tom's Rule #4 is "just say yes." So, Sunshine State here we come.

As a result, we are selling our flat here and planning to move south. Of course, this will likely occur right in the midst of the social highlight of the year...The Annual Ditch Pigs Cleanup!

A suitable donation will be made. Please accept my apologies.

 

[t2andreo]

Donation made, albeit in USD. You should see it on your end soon.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

dear t2, the donation did indeed appear. In the account.
I will leave my "end" out of it!

An impressive number of generous people have donated to the Pigs project -- we have enough money now to cover expenses!
thank you to those who've sent funds. And strange as it sounds: don't send us any more money, or we'll only waste it on wild extravagance. Or booze.

 

[t2andreo]

I suppose you could be altruistic and put it towards San Anton... But the winter is coming soon enough...

I am happy to help and wish I could do more.

 

[tyrrek]

Thank you all. We'll do a good job.
Oink!

 

[KinkyOne]

Hola, @Rebekah Scott

I'm pretty sure I won't walk any Camino at that time but don't know yet about my work commitments (self-employed...) and funds (same = self-employed). I guess time won't be a problem and for transport costs I think I could manage with 200€ to&from.
Is there any dead line to register for Ditch Pigs week???

Have a nice evening!

 

[naplesdon]

Reb, you and Paddy are very inspirational.
I was pleasantly surprised this year to see a lot less litter than I'd seen in previous years. The message must be getting to leave nothing but footprints.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Yay Kinky! You can even show up halfway through and join in, and we'll welcome you. No need to "register." It's just good to know so we can make sleeping arrangements.
Also, Don: the Camino in Palencia IS a lot cleaner now, so we can cover it a lot quicker... and expand the limits a bit farther. I've noticed some accumlation over by Castrojeriz, so we may just begin or end with that this year. Pilgrims on the road can report here where they see a litter problem, let's say from Hontanas on to Calzada del Coto. We'll check it out.

 

[KinkyOne]

Yay Kinky! You can even show up halfway through and join in, and we'll welcome you. No need to "register." It's just good to know so we can make sleeping arrangements.

Good Will send you a message as soon as I know.

Have a nice day!

 

[Nikki-ki-yay]

Hi I would like to come down and help out. What do I need and what do I need to know?

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi Nikki. Here is last years thread which might give some clues https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/palencia-camino-cleanup-2014.29592/

What do you need? Camino gear; good water-proofs; strong gloves; willing heart, and ability to hop in and out of ditches, rummage in hedges and even clamber trees for that Pilgrim "flag". We get dropped off on a stretch of Camino and hike it, alone or paired off, to clean it till it sparkles. What do you need to know? That some pilgs just don't seem to know what a trash-can looks like... Oh, and that we have fun doing it.

 

[Nikki-ki-yay]

Sounds great!!! The Camino has provided for me so many times, now I feel like I want to provide for the Camino and all my future pilgrim brothers and sisters.
I'm from Sweden so the whole thing with keeping nature clean and recycling is in my blood. Hehehe!
If we weren't able to keep our country clean we wouldn't be able to uphold the Allemansrätt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Sweden). The freedom to roam wherever I want here and to put up camp keeps me afloat between my caminos.

All my love!! <3

 

[peregrina2000]

As long as "pilgrims" keep leaving trash along the camino, we'll keep cleaning it up!
We're the Ditch Pigs, and we've been hauling trash off the Palencia parts of the trail for YEARS now... And YOU can join in the filth and the fun!

Four people already are signed on for Ditch Pigs 2015, (they're flying in from UK and Switzerland) and it's a week earlier this year: the fun starts on 28 November, and goes on (usually) for four or five days. We cover the 80+ kilometers of meseta trail from San Nicolas de Puente Fitero all the way to Sahagun... and sometimes to Calzada del Coto! Hospitaleros who served Federation postings in 2015 can now become Ditch Pigs, and attend the big Encuentro de Hospis as well!

The work is strenuous, equipment is crude, weather is iffy... and your reward will not be in this world, unless good company, decent provisions, and a roof over your head count for anything.

Those who can't (or won't) pick up trash can help by contributing money to our Lunch Fund, which buys our meals and fuels the furgoneta that ferries us and our "discoveries" up and down The Way.

Camino Cleanup is a project of Peaceable Kingdom Moratinos. Step right up if you'd like to help out.

Rebekah, maybe I can be the first sign-up for Camino Cleanup 2016. I hope to be retired by then. BUT, here's what I wonder. Can you combine a camino cleanup with a few days touring the Palencia romanesque? Maybe I'm deluding myself to think that has a broader appeal, but wow for me it would be camino heaven! Maybe even scruffy would come from Israel!

 

[VNwalking]

Oh, to be a Ditch Pig!!! Perfect fun: the meseta, good company, and a cleaner camino! But alas, it's a busy time, so I can only support and be there in spirit...
Reb, you and Paddy are inspiring, amazing, wonderful.
So I hope at some point in October/November to be able to make a donation, for whatever, even if lunch is already taken care of:
PK general expenses, San Anton, Priest's holes, pilg food, dog/cat food...perhaps a prize for the most 'interesting' bit of trash?...

 

[tyrrek]

...perhaps a prize for the most 'interesting' bit of trash?...

Oooh! You've got me thinking now. Unfortunately a large proportion of trash can be found just after villages with a shop, so it's boring old drinks cans, chocolate wrappers etc.

 

[VNwalking]

Worth a thought. I'm happy to subsidize a wee incentive for porcine forays into deeper mud.
All for the sake of cleaning up the Camino, mind.......

 

[tyrrek]

I'm happy to subsidize a wee incentive for porcine forays into deeper mud.

Fortunately in December the mud's frozen until near midday. Keeps the smell at bay too!

 

[Sheffield James]

Rebekah, I'd like to think I'll be able to join you. Let me have the details when you know them.

 

[Nikki-ki-yay]

I'll be in Spain between Nov 2 and Dec 10. So I'm 99.99999999% sure that I'll join you. Keep me updated.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Sheffield and Nikki, please send me a PM and I'll put you on the list.

 

[JillGat]

I join a local acequia clean up in my barrio in Albuquerque, NM every year, and wish I could join you! I'm going to be walking the Camino Frances in May and - at the risk of giving you less fun in November - I plan to carry a big bag and pick up trash as I go. Maybe I'll bring extra bags to hand out to other pilgrims, too. Thanks for your work! I don't know if there are any, but it would be nice to have a few small signs along the route asking people to respect the camino and not litter.