#LoveYourForest joins forces with mountain biking community to clear litter from popular bike trails

Press release, [embargo] Thursday 12th August 2021

#LoveYourForest joins forces with mountain biking community to clear litter from popular bike trails World Mountain Biking Champion Katy Curd is backing the campaign

Environmental charity Hubbub is calling on mountain bikers to significantly reduce litter along popular bike trails this summer as part of its ongoing #LoveYourForest campaign.

The Forest of Dean’s bike trails are hugely popular with around 350,000 visits to Forestry England’s Cannop Cycle Centre every year – but mountain bikers are trailing trash in their wake including single use plastic packaging from energy bars and drinks. Not only does this mean the forest can’t flourish, it could also prove fatal for some local wildlife.

Between 2019-2020, Forestry England spent £60k on waste collection in the Forest of Dean. The local wildlife and environment are also paying a high price for the area’s popularity. In fact, it is estimated that much more plastic pollution is introduced to our ecosystems via land than water*.

To inspire bikers to join their movement to tackle the problem, #LoveYourForest has teamed up with World Mountain Biking Champion Katy Curd, among others. Also joining the antipollution peloton are the Forestry England team at Cannop Cycle Centre, Pedalabikeaway café and events, Dean Trail Volunteers, Trash Free Trails and Flyup DownHill shuttle bus, on a number of new interventions to help reduce litter on trails.

There are a variety of ways that the campaign will grow the recycling cycling brigade. World Champion Mountain Biker Katy Curd, is offering a coaching session to bikers who enter the #LoveYourForest competition which will require entrants to take a photo of themselves and at least three pieces of litter that they collect from around the trails. Full details on how to enter the competition are on the #LoveYourForest Facebook page.

Katy Curd, who is a long-standing supporter of the #LoveYourForest campaign, said: “It always makes me so sad when I see litter on the bike trails. Not only does litter have a damaging effect on the forest we are lucky to ride in, but it can also cause accidents to those travelling at high speed. We need to make sure that when we are out on our bikes, the only tracks we are leaving are those left by our tyres!”

Other innovations to inspire bikers include:

• A communal chalkboard where riders can join professional bikers in signing a pledge for a litter free cycle.

• An art piece created by Amanda Copp, made from an old bike trailer in the design of a

boar, to be used as part of the continued litter pick and events organised by Dean Trail Volunteers.

• New signage at Cannop Cycle Centre, shops and shuttle buses, asking people to take their litter home.

• Giveaways including reusable cable ties and reusable water bottles to encourage riders to swap their single use items for reusable ones.

250 tonnes of rubbish is removed by the Forest of Dean District Council from the local area every year, costing local taxpayers £450,000 per annum. . In 2016, Hubbub and local partners launched the #LoveYourForest campaign to tackle the issue, which in four years has seen more than 1,000 bags of litter collected in the area. #LoveYourForest is run in collaboration with local employer Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, Forest of Dean District Council, Forestry England, Foresters’ Forest, and Forest of Dean & Wye Valley Tourism.

Abigail Arden, Project Coordinator at Hubbub, said: “The #LoveYourForest campaign is now in its fifth year and we have seen many successes during this time. Working with local partners means that we have been able to identify another key area of the forest where litter is still problematic. While we appreciate that litter from mountain bikers is often dropped by mistake, there is a solution. By switching to reusable items and carrying lightweight gear to store it in, we hope that bikers will quickly see the benefits this change can have as their favourite trails become less obstructed by litter.”

Michelle Norman, Director of Sustainability at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, said: “The #LoveYourForest campaign continues to make a positive impact on our beautiful Forest Of Dean, minimising the worst of the littering from the increasing number of visitors flocking to the Forest. We know the vast majority of visitors act responsibly and this targeted initiative invites mountain bikers to help drive the change we all want to see. We look forward to working together to send a powerful message to everyone in the community to help do their bit for our trails, our forests and our planet.”

Dan Weston, Cycling Ranger for Forestry England in the Forest of Dean said: “296 million visits were made to the nation’s forests during a year of lockdown – that’s 35% more than what we have seen in previous years. Cannop Cycle Centre is just one of our sites that has seen a huge surge in popularity. While we love welcoming new people, sadly with the extra footfall comes more litter. However, the #LoveYourForest campaign at the Forest of Dean is a leading example of how others can take action to reduce litter in our

rural areas, to ensure they can continue to be enjoyed by future visitors and existing wildlife inhabitants.”

Earlier in 2021, as part of the #LoveYourForest recycling push, Hubbub installed two new Recycle Reward Machines at the Midcounties Co-operative in Coleford and Dean Heritage Centre, designed to accept empty bottles and cans in exchange for tokens, which recyclers can then use to claim a prize.

For more information or to join the #LoveYourForest campaign, visit: www.hubbub.org.uk/love-your-forest

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For more information, please contact the Hubbub team at Barley Communications: Katie Raby – katie.raby@barleycommunications.co.uk - 07896 533547

NOTES TO EDITORS *https://www.trashfreetrails.org/state-of-our-trails-report

ABOUT HUBBUB Hubbub is an award-winning charity and social enterprise that inspires ways of living that are good for the environment - disrupting the status quo to raise awareness, nudge behaviours and shape systems. Their aim is to revolutionise communications with the public about environmental issues - using everyday language and good design to make environmental actions desirable and tapping into things people are passionate about such as food, fashion, homes and neighbourhoods. This innovative approach saw Hubbub win the Charity of the Year Award at the prestigious Charity Times Awards in 2020.

Since its formation in 2014, Hubbub has delivered more than 60 trailblazing environmental campaigns in collaboration with over 700 partners, helping to shift the national debate on key environmental issues such as food waste, sustainable fashion, air pollution and recycling. Hubbub’s campaigns include #LeedsByExample which brought together 25 of the UK’s largest companies to boost recycling on the high street, a 3-year partnership with IKEA to create the world’s largest consumer-facing sustainability campaign ‘Live Lagom’ and creating a Network of 100 Community Fridges across the UK, each redistributing on average 1.5 tonnes of food every month that would otherwise have gone to waste. www.hubbub.org.uk Twitter: @hubbubuk

Facebook: @HubbubUK Instagram: @helloHubbub LinkedIn: Hubbub-UK

ABOUT SUNTORY BEVERAGE & FOOD GB&I Suntory Beverage &Food GB&I is one of the largest soft drinks suppliers in the UK and Ireland. Its much-loved brands include Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport, Ribena and Orangina. Located in the heart of the Forest of Dean, it’s Coleford factory has been producing great-tasting drinks since 1946. The business is driven by its “Yatte Minahare” (‘Go for it!’) spirit. Its role is to have a positive impact on the lives of consumers by providing them with a responsible choice of great-tasting drinks and enabling them to lead more active lifestyles.

For further information, please visit: www.suntorybfe.com/gbi

F O R E S T R Y E N G L A N D Forestry England manages and cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, with over 230 million visits per year. As England’s largest land manager, we shape landscapes and are enhancing forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow.

Forestry England is an agency of the Forestry Commission.

For more information visit www.forestryengland.uk.

DEAN TRAIL VOLUNTEERS Established in 2009, Dean Trail Volunteers is a group of riders from all disciplines working in partnership with Foresty England to develop and maintain the official mountain bike trails in the Forest of Dean. Their activities include fund raising, volunteer training, trail inspection and planning and trail building, Maintenace and litter picks. People wishing to get involved and find out more about the group should head to https://www.deantrailvolunteers.org.uk/get-involved