Ditch Pigs

biarritzdon said:

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A proposal to everyone who loves our Camino: Let's expand the clean up efforts!
It could and should be year round event.
The ditch pig event late in November centered on the Meseta which has been organized by Rebekah Scott for several years should be expanded. The amount of trash we picked up this year in November between Castrojeriz and Bercianos was amazing. The wind and rain is not going to take away the disgusting amount of toilet paper and other debris left by our fellow pilgrims.
I don't know where to take this request other than to say to a bunch of like minded folks who want to contribute their time to keeping the Camino clean and create an organization to keep the Camino pristine and spend several days/weeks a year being "litter gitters."

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Anemone del Camino said:

I picked up trash along VDLP on a stretch where it all of a sudden materialise. Bottles of sunscreen, yogourt cardboard, plastic water bottles. Had a grocery store plastic bag filled in a metter of minutes, and that was while not picking up the large 1.5l water bottles.

I am thinking that mojones should be shapped as garbage cans, or simply put garbage cans out there as mojones.

And what about using those backpacks as marketing billboards, but sewing patches that remind people to pick up their trash?

Encourage albergues to put the plastic nags we leave behing after shopping by the frontdoor with a sign asking people to use them to pick up as they walk. 1 bag each per day wouldmake such a difference. Or ise the crendencial as a way to spread the word: mail/hand them out with a few thin plastic bags in them. Make those bags high vis yellow so people see you using them and are encouraged to do the same.

Or, being evil here, only give access to a bed in exchange for a bag of trash.

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sillydoll said:

I would like to ask all new pilgrims to please keep the camino free of litter.
There is nothing more awful than seeing a Coke can, plastic bottle or candy wrapper on an otherwise pristine path.
Actually, there is one thing, a pile of toilet tissues behind a bush or in a clearing off the path – YUK!! Keep a small plastic bag with you and put all your litter into it – then chuck it into a garbage bin when you reach a town or village.

The Canadian Company of Pilgrims started a litter campaign in 2007 named Take a Day to Make a Difference. They decided to include a litter bag with all credentials that they were issuing for 2008. Everyone who received a credential for 2008 also received a litter bag and the request to Take a Day to Make a Difference and collect litter along the way.

In 2008 CSJ of SA member Margi Briggs started a Spring Clean Up campaign and had 10 000 (132kgs) garbage bags printed with the CSJ of SA Logo and a message in several languages. Each South African pilgrim will be asked to take a bag on the camino and help clear up litter along the way. The Flemish CSJ actually asked us to make this project an international one and we are working on it.

The 2nd request is this:
Gordon Bell - our man on the camino in Casa Banderas just outside Portomarin - asked us to include a message in our newsletter:
So, don't walk off the path into a vineyard to pick grapes (they might have been recently sprayed with insecticides anyway!) and don't try to pick fruit off the trees in orchards along the path. Pilgrims have 'right of way' through many properties and it must really irritate farmers when they help themselves to fuits or vegetables just because they are in reach.

Remember, good pilgrims don't litter and they don't steal!

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