OLDHAM council has just successfully prosecuted local litter dumpers. Here KEN BENNETT meets a forthright local community champion whose solo mission is to keep the town - and Britain - tidy

RUTH Major’s gimlet eyes give the pavement a practised, well timed sweep...

She’s on the look out for rubbish - a discarded plastic bottle, a wrapping paper, a screwed up box. In fact anything that should be in a bin not on a street.

And when she speaks she does not mind if folk says she is talking a load of rubbish. Because simply that is what she does.

Her avid listeners include casual acquaintances, passengers on trams, trains, in airports, pubs and restaurants, on cruise ships and in foreign lands.

In fact, whenever this dynamic 74-year-old steps out of the door of her Werneth home she has a single focus - to actively encourage people to pick up one piece of litter a day.

And next month she makes a very special trip to London after being nominated for a Climate Coalition Green Hearts Heroes Awards ceremony at Westminster Palace.

And she says gleefully: “Potentiall,y it's a great opportunity to publicise the #1PieceOfRubbsih campaign and maybe put Oldham on the map too.”

Three years ago, she decided to have an adventure and travel by free bus pass from Oldham to Paignton to visit her family who lived there.

It took four days, staying overnight in three Hanover Housing Association centres where she is a resident, travelling on 24 buses, spending £40 on accommodation — and absolutely nothing on transport.

Around the same time, she read of Leeds-born Edmund Platt who went to live in Marseille and was so appalled by the amount of rubbish in the city he began a campaign called 1 Piece Of Rubbish, to try to encourage everyone to pick up at least one piece of rubbish every day.

Ruth recalls with relish: “This was such a simple idea I decided to incorporate it into my travels and very soon I was taking photographs of my hand, putting rubbish into bins, in every town and city I visited.

“ I completed four trips that year alone, covered the country from Newcastle to Carlisle and Paignton to London. Since then I have completed a further nine bus pass trips, currently making 13 trips in total.”

Turning her attention to Oldham’s current litter status she says candidly: “The town centre is looking much tidier.

“I don’t know if that's because of a change in behaviour or whether or an increase in the employment of council litter pickers.

“Some areas of Oldham are arranging their own, regular litter-picking events - Coldhurst, Glodwick, Hollinwood and Failsworth - while others appear to be totally disinterested.

“Although it is not the job of volunteers to clean up the borough I do feel more encouragement by the council could help neighbourhoods to mobilise and become more interested in making a difference.

“ I'm delighted there is an increase in the prosecution of fly-tippers but we also need a massive increase in the apprehension of individuals, especially cigarette smokers who drop their dross.”

She observed: “Fines don't seem to reflect the 'enormity' of the crimes committed.

“Dropping a small amount of litter may seem irrelevant but the collective cost to the environment is enormous.

“Are the penalties set by local councils or government diktat? There is a need for revision.

“Other countries impose far more stringent penalties and appear to have greater success in creating change - Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, USA.”

And she stressed: “We need more bins in more appropriate places. There are various areas where one has to walk great distances before finding a bin.

“I recently asked for a bin to be relocated. It was agreed my suggestion would be investigated. But so far there has been no action.

“ I’m still waiting on a sign requesting people not to feed pigeons near my home because it encourages rats and other wildlife.”

She added: “Many bins are unattractive, dirty, damaged, rusting and not conducive to encouraging their usage, for example, there needs to be a regular monitoring of their positioning, cleanliness and condition.”

Contact Ruth at :

Facebook: RubbishRuthsRambles

Twitter: #RubbishRuthsRambles @ruthmajor44

Instagram: #RubbishRuthsRambles @ruthmajor44

Read her blog: https://rubbishruthsrambles.co.uk

Email: ruthmajor44@gmail.com