‘Vintage’ litter drives Adam wild

Adam Howells, 39, from Wolverhampton, said he was an avid wild camper and was left disappointed when he could not go out and enjoy his hobby during lockdown.

He was also surprised by the amount of negative press wild campaign was receiving, so he set up a Facebook page to encourage wild campers to help him collect a bag of rubbish every time they are out in nature.

Since setting the group up in August, it now has nearly 4,000 members from across the world who are all busy collecting rubbish.

Mr Howells said: “I noticed there was a lot of negative press surrounding wild camping, so I decided to start up a Facebook group to encourage campers like me to collect litter when they were out in nature, at least a bag of rubbish.

"The group exploded really, and we have around 10 pictures being posted daily of people out collecting litter.”

Mr Howells said while he was out collecting rubbish he was shocked by the amount of “vintage” litter he was coming across, which he said highlighted the long-term impact of littering.

He said sometimes he came across litter that was up to 30 years old and decided to set up a virtual event, called the Great Archaeological Litter Pick, where he asks litter pickers to send photos of any rubbish over two decades old, to be featured in the Virtual Museum of Vintage Litter.

The event will run until March 28 and, as part of the challenge, there is a chance to win a contemporary landscape painting.

The museum already has more than 60 pictures, which include 30-year-old Lucozade bottles and 40-year-old Fairy washing up liquid bottles.

For further information, search for Wild Campers Against Waste on Facebook.