A MAN who recently moved to Duffryn has taken matters into his own hands after being shocked by the amount of litter and fly-tipping in the area.

Nick Carter set up the Duffryn Community Clean Up group earlier this year to tackle the neighbourhood’s litter problem.

“We moved here a year ago, and we were disgusted with the level of littering in Duffryn”, Mr Carter said.

“We took it upon ourselves to set up our own group to try and reduce littering.

The small – but determined – group held its first litter pick last month, filling eight bin bags with rubbish that had been tossed onto grass verges and dumped over hedges.

Mr Carter struggles to understand why anyone litters.

“Why would anyone want to do something like dumping a trolley in a river or setting fire to garbage?” he asked.

“On a grander scale, the majority of the litter is plastic – just put it in the recycling”, he said.

He believes the issue won’t improve unless people actively do something about littering.

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept”, Mr Carter said, referencing an Australian soldier’s maxim.

The Duffryn group is offering a free mug of tea or coffee to anyone who takes part in future litter picks.

“We’re planning to target an area each month, and we’ll try to get as many people involved as possible”, Mr Carter said.

The city council, he said, has been helpful in providing litter-picking equipment and taking away any rubbish collected, but he believes they could be doing more.

“We’re doing it on a zero budget but there are ongoing costs, like insurance – it may not seem a lot, but we pay council tax for this”, he said.

“The council has to look at more inventive ways to work with a small budget.”

GET IN TOUCH: Throughout our War on Litter campaign, we want to feature every litter picking hero and volunteer group that we can. As well as your stories, we want your pictures and videos too. If you would like to be featured, or if you want to send us some pictures of problem areas that deserve attention, get in touch by emailing sam.ferguson@gwent-wales.co.uk or joining our dedicated Facebook group – South Wales Argus: War on Litter.