OVER THE month of June, 120 litter heroes took part in a month-long litter picking challenge in their communities across Dorset.

Families with young children, to young adults and older residents in the county signed up to the challenge and completed a variety of different litter picking tasks.

In total, the volunteers collected approximately one ton of litter – the equivalent weigh of a baby humpback whale.

Preventing Plastic Pollution researcher, Amanda Arnold, said: “We are really grateful to the volunteers for taking part in the LFD challenge. It was really inspiring to see the stories and pictures posted online and its remarkable how much litter was collected.

“The completed litter survey forms will enable the PPP project to get a grasp on where, how much and what types of litter are accumulating in Dorset’s river catchments.

“This data makes a big difference as it will help us develop a tool to predict litter hotspots.”

Alongside the choice of creating their own challenge, three challenges were suggested by Litter Free Dorset.

Over two thirds of participants took part in a '10 times challenge', where they litter picked their local area 10 times over the course of June, whereas other participants opted for the 10 minutes daily challenge.

Some litter heroes signed up for the 10-hour challenge, where they litter picked for 10 hours over the course of one day.

Results from the survey showed the most common form of litter was confectionary and food packets.

Other plastic items such as disposable PPE, plastic drinks bottles and wet wipes were also cleared up.

Litter Free Dorset coordinator Sophie Colley said: “A big thank you to all 120 litter legends who took part in the June Litter Free Dorset challenge.

“We hope you all enjoyed your adventure and we have loved seeing your progress pictures on the challenge Facebook Page.

“We hope you are inspired to continue your litter picking efforts post challenge.”

The Litter Free Dorset Challenge initiative was a collaboration between Litter Free Dorset and the Preventing Plastic Pollution project, supported by Queen Mary University of London and co-financed by the Interreg France (Channel) England programme.

Participants were also able to also fundraise money for Litter Free Dorset, a community campaign to reduce litter across the county hosted by Dorset Council.

To fundraise or donate, visit https://app.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/payments/templates/litter-free-dorset/form.