Staff at Northampton-based Panther Logistics joined forces with the Northants Litter Wombles to collect 70 bags of litter from around its Lodge Farm HQ.
The company approached the Northants Litter Wombles for their support and expertise in the first dedicated litter pick event at Lodge Farm which has been home to Panther for the past nine years.
The idea came from Panther employees following a discussion on issues which mattered most to them.
The event came ahead of World Earth Day on Saturday (April 22nd), whose events include the Great Global Clean Up which aims to rid the environment of plastic pollution.
Twenty-four volunteers from Panther took part in the event. Items found during the course of the day included a £5 note and a message in a bottle. The volunteers also reported a lot of fly-tipping.
Vicki Barber, Head of People & Engagement, hailed the day a success and said it was hoped it would be the first of many with Panther, as part of a shared vision of a litter-free county through ongoing litter-picking events.
Vicki said:
“By the very nature of the industry in which we operate it is one of the most damaging to our environment.
“In speaking with teams from across our depots it is clear that this is always at the back of everyone’s minds which is why everyone is so keen to support events and causes which work to combat the harmful effects.”
In addition to cleaning up its environment Panther further pledged its support to the Northants Litter Wombles with a donation to general funds. This in the main be spent on the action group’s education programme which has so far seen the Northants Litter Wombles speak to 10,000 children across 35 county schools, teaching them about the importance of a litter-free environment.
After the talks the Northants Litter Wombles organise a follow-up litter pick event with items such as purple hi-vis jackets, litter-pickers, bags and bag hoops provided.
Since the Northants Litter Wombles were formed in July 2021 volunteers have collected nearly 60,000 bags of rubbish.
Alison McClean is Events Co-ordinator with the Northants Litter Wombles. She said:
“The event at Panther was superb. Everyone really got on board and they were amazed at just how much litter they managed to collect in just a few short hours.
“The donation is also going to be a great help. It will go to our general funds, the majority of which are spent on expanding our education programme, but we also buy kits to loan out to the community. They are about £35 each and we leave them in locations such as libraries so that anyone can use them.”
Vicki continued:
“We have come a long way in recent years in ensuring we reduce our environmental impact but there is still a long way to go.
“While we work on what we can do as a company to reduce that impact our teams are also totally invested in doing what they can to themselves to further build on our efforts and help us reach our end goal more quickly.”