#commutecleanup

How many miles do you drive per week?

My daily commute is 35 minutes and about 19.2 miles each way.

In that time; I pass by busy main roads, fields, farms and moor side.

I'm lucky enough to live in the Yorkshire Dales (near Skipton, North Yorkshire) with beautiful scenery and views spanning miles upon miles. But; what I've come to learn of late is that my view is somewhat being overtaken with litter, bags of contaminated waste and an overwhelming sense of selfishness by fellow commuters and locals.

So I decided that enough was enough, I need to tackle the problem head on instead of moaning about it - which is where the idea arrive for Commute Cleanup.

On Saturday 6th April, I set out and met with the Plastic Free Skipton group at Aireville Park and spent just under two hours with Amy (one of the lead organisers for Plastic Free Skipton). We walked through the park up to the main road and filled bag upon bag with trash. You can see some of the many pictures from the day below.

Just a sign from a business that hasn't been in Skipton for around 10 years.

Once we had finished the cleanup; Craven Council came to collect our trash pile and displayed it outside Skipton Town Hall the following day. A whooping 83 bags of rubbish were collected in Skipton that day.

It's disgusting and shameful that we are in the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales and a huge part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park yet not enough of us see what littering and fly tipping can do to our natural environment and home.

Do you want to get involved?

I'm planning to expand the #commutecleanup community - I will be heading up the A59 from Skipton to the Blubberhouses tackling one small section at a time.

If you'd like to get involved, drop me an email now at gemmalouisebassett@hotmail.co.uk or DM me on Instagram.

Thanks for reading and I hope to meet you soon!

Gemma