Buckie’s Roots litter pickers bag themselves remarkable milestone
LITTER pickers from a Buckie community group have bagged themselves an extraordinary milestone.
Buckie’s Roots volunteers have been hard at work over the last three years helping to keep Buckie beautiful and their ceaseless efforts have now seen them coolect so many bags of rubbish it would be higher than the world’s tallest building.
Meg Jamieson, the group’s chairwoman, said: “The Burj Khalifa Tower, including the spire, is 828m meaning that we needed 1656 bags to equal its height.
“We have now collected 1675.5 bags so we have exceeded its height.
“At the start of our counting litter we worked out that an average bag was 0.5m in height, 0.5m in width and weighed approximately 5kg. That was in February 2021. Didn't think we would equal the world's tallest building. It is quite scary, really!
“The litter pickers have done so well and are known throughout the town with their blue vests sponsored by Sandy’s Carpet they’re not easily missed. They not only litter pick but also weed lanes and make sure the play parks are checked, reporting breakages or vandalism to Moray Council.
“Litter becomes a greater problem in the summer with gulls pulling things from the bins. Buckie has been promised gull-proof bins for years but as yet they have not arrived. Summer also sees a greater danger in the amount of broken glass especially in the play park and paths. The litter pickers continue to try and keep on top of this with reports and warnings being pasted on our Facebook page.
“Both the gardening and litter picking feeds back into Keep Scotland Beautiful and we continue to enter the It’s Your Neighbourhood Award.”
It has been a busy time for the award-winning group.
Mrs Jamieson continued: “Last season was extremely busy for us with the extra planters and we also added more community planters.
“We were able to get the gates to the monument refurbished from funds raised by the veterans five years ago. This made such a difference as did the refurbishment of the monument.
“Our plans for the future are to continue to maintain what we have done over the years. Fundraising and volunteers for tending the plants is a big thing for us. The cost of planting the displays is always increasing but it’s well with it when you see what can be done.
“We’re a small group and our volunteers also support other projects but we feel we have enough going on now so won’t be taking on any new project this year. None of us is getting any younger so we really need help to maintain what we have.
We always say you don’t need any knowledge to help us tend the plants and there are no regular hours so you can help when you want.
“Our focus has always been to build community spirit through regenerating public areas with flowers but we’ve accomplished so much more. As volunteers we all play a part in these achievement as does the wider community and businesses who support us. This year we are recognising the lifeboat through the colours of the flowers we are planting. There is also a craft item being made which will take centre place in the flower beds.
“We are in the process of organising a summer charity day bringing local charities together celebrating all the excellent volunteering happening in the town.”
She added that the group will once again be supporting Buckie Classic Car Show, Glow Gold September and Armistice Sunday and also the monthly community lunches held in Buckie.
Anyone interested in helping out Buckie’s roots should contact them via their Facebook page or email buckiesroots@yahoo.com
