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A partial solution to litter problems

€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Maybe a better solution is us, the readers of this forum. Why don't we all commit to picking up a couple of pieces of litter each day of our hike.

I have mentioned earlier on this forum that I reuse sandwich bags from home. I just store them, stuff a wad into my pack each year (and each time I hike at home), and carry them with me to Spain, France, or Portugal. They weigh practically nothing. (I am talking about the clear plastic sandwich bags, not the paper bags which we call a "lunch" bag here in the U.S.)

Another thing we could do is, if we are close to someone who has littered, stop them politely and offer one of these bags for collecting the waste that has been dropped.

Let's give back as we walk.

Tom
 
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I saw lots of tissue trash. Some was obvious that it was discarded, I’m somewhat convinced that others were tissue that didn’t make it back into the pocket someone was trying to put it into, or wiggled up a pocket and fell out. My thought and efforts were to be more aware that my tissue was secure in a pocket. As you’re walking, if you go into a pocket for something, and it also has tissue in it, realize the tissue can fall out unnoticed, especially when you’re walking.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
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Depending on the historic time frame within which you identify (I take it you may be British), then we would have been from the colonies, too. ;-) Alas, the British (George Vancouver) and the Spanish (the Viceroy of New Spain, Don Juan Vincente de Guemes Pacheco de Padilla Horcasitees y Aguayo, Conde Revilla de Gigedo) were in our area in 1790. The crows passed down their oral heritage...
 
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I have two pet starlings, which are related to crows and are very intelligent. They say "Hello" when you enter the room, various other phrases, and whistle "Happy Birthday To You." Also, like crows, they love to steal shiny things. I am a mosaic artist and while I am working, one will often land on my shoulder, then wait for the opportune moment to swoop down and grab a tile out of my hand and fly away.
 
I have two pet starlings, which are related to crows and are very intelligent. They say "Hello" when you enter the room, various other phrases, and whistle "Happy Birthday To You." Also, like crows, they love to steal shiny things. I am a mosaic artist and while I am working, one will often land on my shoulder, then wait for the opportune moment to swoop down and grab a tile out of my hand and fly away.
Lots of likes, Jill!
Just curious...what do they do with the shiny bauble, once they've swiped it?
Surely you've seen this story?:
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026
(It's not about crows rather than starlings, but starlings are super smart too. And they're great mimics...I read somewhere that Mozart's pet starling sang his music. Oh, to be a fly on that wall....):
 
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Lots of likes, Jill!
Just curious...what do they do with the shiny bauble, once they've swiped it?
Surely you've seen this story?:
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026
(It's not about crows rather than starlings, but starlings are super smart too. And they're great mimics...I read somewhere that Mozart's pet starling sang his music. Oh, to be a fly on that wall....):

No, I hadn't seen that! My starlings just carry away shiny things and make me chase them to get them back. I think it's mostly a game. Yes, Mozart had a pet starling and some people thought maybe Mozart wrote pieces that mimicked the starling's song, too. My birds mimic me and also mimic all the birds in the trees outside, when I put their flight cage outside for the summer.
 
I see the birds are rewarded with food every time they drop a piece of trash in a bucket. Maybe pilgrims could be rewarded with a cafe con leche or a vino tinto for doing the same! ;):D

Nah, never mind. Probably wouldn't work. :(
In the Swedish archipelago there has been projects where you get a trashbag with you when you rent a kayak and if you return the bag with litter from the sea you get rewarded. On the camino if you turn over x number of trashbags to trash stations you get a special stamp that get you into a speed line at the pilgrims office?
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
In the Swedish archipelago there has been projects where you get a trashbag with you when you rent a kayak and if you return the bag with litter from the sea you get rewarded. On the camino if you turn over x number of trashbags to trash stations you get a special stamp that get you into a speed line at the pilgrims office?
Maybe you're partly joking, but that's not a bad idea, Beatrice!
Now, how to get that implemented?
 
Here, in the North Cascades, and in our local forest lands, we pick up items others may have accidentally dropped along the trail. It's very infrequent we need to do so. I believe I was fortunate on the Camino as I found it to be essentally litter free. I saw an errant napkin once that the wind picked up, and it flew over a fence where there was a big bull. That's when I discovered the limits to my "litter retrieval program." Maybe the bull had a plan...
 
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