AN ANDOVER campaigner has completed an eight-day solo litter pick around Andover as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Spring Clean 2022.

Manuela Wahnon, who runs an attitude of gratitude blog encouraging positivity and pride in our environment, decided to task herself with re-doing a litter-picking challenge she completed alongside several Test Valley Borough councillors several years ago.

For eight days, she travelled by bus to a Welcome to Andover sign somewhere on the outskirts of the town, and then walked from there along the main roads and back into the town centre, picking up litter along the way. On some days she would do as many as four trips.

Manuela covered the entire area on foot, sometimes in the pitch dark or rain, walking dozens of miles and losing count of the number of bags of litter she collected.

Along the way, she stopped by a number of local businesses and was overwhelmed with the kindness she was shown.

“The generosity of the public and businesses when I asked for a glass of water, everybody was so kind,” she said.

In particular, Manuela thanked the St Paul’s Church Centre on Smannell Road which went above and beyond to make her feel welcome and comfortable, and Stagecoach buses drivers, who she not only relied on for transport, but for morale-boosting waves along the way.

She added: “When people say it’s the children that litter, this is factually inaccurate. The most litter is always from drivers, [they] are the worst litterers. It can be in car parks, on roads, or on verges.

“People who would never litter when they are walking around the town feel it’s ok when they’re in a vehicle so it can’t be traced back to them, so I found that going to where all of the signs are is how I find the most litter. “

Manuela said she was surprised to find that face masks were not a common find on her trip, but far more were discarded in the town centre close to shops. Bottles, cans and food packaging were the worst culprits.

“The most disappointing thing is that people care about health, about protecting themselves and others, which is why they wear the masks, but they don’t think about the environment, and the damage they do, that the environment is being polluted,” she said.

“On the days I went out, the cleanest road with the least litter was Barlows Lane.”

Reflecting on her challenge, Manuela said: “At any time, I would have been able to think I can’t continue, but now I can look back and think, I did that. At 76 years old I covered the whole area of Andover: north, south, east and west. That’s quite an achievement.”

To get involved in the Great British Spring Clean, visit: keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean