…is an initiative to achieve and sustain a meaningful reduction of litter on all main paths from the base to the summit of Snowdon. This includes the car parks and responsible disposal of rubbish i.e. recycling not landfill.

The initiative is supported by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, Cymdeithas Eryri the Snowdonia Society, Snowdon Mountain Railway, Halfway Café, Natural Resources Wales, Keep Wales Tidy, North Wales Environmental Outdoor Charter Group, RAW Adventures, Snowdon Marathon, Bangor University (through the Green Innovation Future Technologies (GIFT) project), Wales Centre for Behaviour Change and the Welsh Institute for Sustainable Environments (WISE).

On 11^th July 2014, the Snowdonia Society teamed up with the Snowdonia National Park Authority (SNPA) Wardens’ team and RAW Adventures to clear the litter on the Miners’ track from Pen y Pass to Lake Glaslyn. Our group of 17 volunteers were guided along the track by 3 experienced Mountain Leaders; Helen Pye (SNPA), Ross Worthington (RAW Adventures) and Kin Choi. During our 4 hour litter pick we collected 20 refuse bags of litter, the majority of which came from the lake side. The litter mainly included food and drink packaging, clothes and mountain safety equipment.

What was most noticeable about the Miners track up to Glaslyn, was the general cleanliness of the track. despite having collected 20 bags of litter. When you take into account its popularity with visitors, it is worth noting that the SNPA Wardens’ team are doing an excellent job.

As well as collecting the litter itself, we mapped the location and volume of litter using GPS Dataloggers. This information is vital if we are to succeed, as it allows us to monitor the progress of our work and assess the extent of the problem. With the help of Andrew Thomas (Bangor University), we have been able to produce this heat map of the litter on the track.

“On behalf of the Snowdonia Society, I would like to thank all the volunteers involved and our three Mountain Leaders; Helen Pye, Ross Worthington and Kin Choi for their time and hard work.” 

Owain Thomas, Snowdonia Society Project Officer (Email Owain)