By Sadaf Maruf and Hana Backhouse

Getting a rescue dog this summer changed many things for my family.

For one we started using the parks again regularly to walk the dog and that’s when we saw how much rubbish was being left behind by people in the lockdown. The council cleaners were clearly overwhelmed. It wasn’t just cans and remnants of picnics, there were champagne corks, broken beer bottles and sharp bottle tops. Most people on social media blamed young people but one group was actually doing something proactive.

Through LAGER Can, Litter Action Group for Ealing Residents, volunteers were picking up the litter rather than just moaning about it. They picked in groups or individually as I did whenever I walked Cookie. They cleared parks, streets, canals and alleyways. Hana who’s 15 was dragged along to pick litter as we walked our dog one morning in the holidays and we discussed how we could encourage more young people to join.

Months later when school started, my question became an idea she ran with during enrichment class.

It was actually quite fun and a bit addictive to spot the rubbish and bag it up, Hana admitted. And doing it with a small group of friends was going to be far better than doing it with mum. Plus it was helping the environment! LAGER Can now has well over 800 volunteers via Facebook- but it was still mainly adults and the group was keen to encourage young members.

Hana and I decided to start a page on Instagram to do this and the NHEHS girls became the first group to follow it just a few weeks ago and contribute to it. They wrote a letter explaining why they wanted to pick litter for their Duke of Edinburgh silver award and they have now collected many bags worth over the last month during their Wednesday volunteering. And the idea has expanded.

LAGER Can has now reached out to several schools across Ealing who are all happy to have pupils get involved for their DofE awards. The Instagram account is growing too with quirky eye-catching posts and connections made with litter and environmental groups all over the world from Kenya to Australia and the US. It’s a passion for many all over the world and I’m proud that our girls have been at the start of it locally here in Ealing paving the way for others to follow. There are pupils from at least seven local schools now taking part in litter picking.

You can find out more @lagercanealing on Insta, LAGER Can on Facebook and @CanLager on Twitter.