Darren Rice and Julie Elizabeth tackle litter in Newport, filling 722 bags in a year, highlighting the growing waste problem in the city
Newport: Two dedicated folks, Darren Rice and Julie Elizabeth, have been on a mission to clean up their city. Last year, they filled a whopping 722 bags with rubbish during their weekly litter picking trips.
Darren couldn’t believe how much trash they found. He said, “The amount of rubbish is mind-blowing.” But he also feels good about their efforts, saying it really helps make the community cleaner.
Every Sunday, they head out for about four hours, starting bright and early at 7:30 AM. They’ve got a routine down, and it’s clear they’re passionate about making a difference.
The Newport City Council has been supportive, with local councillors, including Council leader Dimitri Batrouni, joining them for some clean-up days. It’s great to see the community come together like that.
Once they bag up the litter, it gets picked up the next day, either by the council or Newport City Homes, depending on where they’ve been working.
They cover a lot of ground, picking up trash in areas like Lliswerry, Maesglas, Gaer, and Bettws. Unfortunately, Darren has noticed that littering has been getting worse over the years.
He started this whole litter picking journey after getting into magnet fishing, where he cleans up canals and rivers. Now, he’s even the founder of the Newport Canal and Litter Picking Group.
On top of that, Darren sells the scrap metal he finds to help fund food donations to local food banks. He’s also set up a Facebook page called ‘Helping to Support Food Banks across Newport’ to connect people with food bank resources.
He believes there’s a real need for better communication about food banks in the area, and he hopes his new group can fill that gap.
