Introducing Perthshire’s youngest litter picker - Finlay Demster (5), master of the waterways of the Tay at Grandtully.
Beyond Adventure manager Ross Demster was out with his son Finlay recently on a mission to remove plastic junk from along the riverbank near their home.
Since joining the Perthshire-based adventure tourism company two years ago, Ross has endeavoured to ensure a green ethos is part of the paddle sport operator’s ethos.
He pledged his loyalty to campaign organisation Planet Patrol, which has an app to record where litter is being found all over the world.
Previously Ross scooped out rubbish from the riverbank using paddleboards, but last week he fancied taking a salvage trip in a canoe with a precious passenger to lend him a hand.
Ross was keen to get a bit of special time with son Finlay as he has a younger sister Eilidh (1) who has been competing for her dad’s attention lately.
Ross said: “I recently took a look at the report put out by the global organisation Planet Patrol and I felt strongly I should do my bit to ensure our great environment in Highland Perthshire remains unspoilt.
“I was pleasantly surprised at what a difference Finlay and I were able to make on our mini mission.
“We dragged a good haul out the mighty River Tay. Cans, plastic bags, even a motorcycle wheel. It’s all now in our bins and ready to be recycled.”
Ross had been looking for ways to find positives from the lockdown experience and the ongoing restrictions that have played such a huge part of everyone’s lives.
“For me, with no customers for the canoe business, I have been mostly desk surfing.
“I chose to look at the opportunity that I had with the company and lots of boats doing nothing.
“Finlay is at Grandtully Primary School where they have been doing some fantastic work to benefit the environment. It’s all about educating the next generation.
“Our trip out on Sunday last was a great experience, helping us both with our green goals.
“We wrestled a wheel rim out of the tree roots - that was our biggest catch.
“And exploring local places with my son and extending his already fantastic knowledge of Perthshire has been priceless.”
Planet Patrol reports that plastic packaging, metal drinks cans, plastic bottles, drinks cans, polystyrene, cigarette butts and plastic bags are amongst the top 10 types of litter found.
The public litter picks recorded on the app logged Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser, Cadbury and Walkers to be the top five most discarded brands in 2020.
The eco organisation appealed for more public help to beat the problem: “The amount of plastic that the UK throws away is set to increase by over a million tonnes by 2030.
“We can’t solve the problem without first understanding it. Our target for 2021 is to record one million pieces of litter in the Planet Patrol app.
“Together we can reach this goal by adding any litter we find in nature - anywhere, anytime - and inspiring others to do the same by joining the movement.”
