Greens supremo Patrick Harvie has called for more backing to clean-out our rivers of filth.
The MSP hopped into a canoe himself and grafted for hours at the weekend alongside Paisley clean-up campaigner Paul Richardson and his team.
He now wants local councils to meet with Paul - who runs Calamity Kayaking - to formalise his volunteering on the White Cart Water and River Clyde.
Patrick Harvie covered a stretch at the Glasgow boundary of the White Cart which Paul had not tackled before.
And the Scottish Greens co-leader - now a Scottish Government minister - said: “I was astonished at the amount of junk in the river and the range of it, from bikes to microwaves to car parts.
“A lot of it has clearly sat there for many years – one old trolley we pulled out was from a supermarket brand that hasn’t existed since the 1990s.
“There’s clearly a lot more work needing done here, not just on the Cart but on many of our rivers and canals.
“ I’d like our local councils to sit down with Paul and talk about how we can properly support the work Calamity Kayaking have got started.”
Paul,45, has despaired at not being recognised properly by Renfrewshire Council for the work he does.
He has tried and failed to get funding from them and feels he has also been snubbed by some SNP politicians.
The rivers have long been used as a dumping ground, with favourites including road cones, traffic signs and old tyres.
But there is no dedicated service to fish them out.
Paul said: “Along with my team we have cleaned much of the river through Paisley so that’s why I took Patrick nearer Crookston so he could witness the real state of it.
“My colleagues Joseph Heenan and Jim Keenan and I were delighted to get his support as sometimes I feel we need to walk away without more backing.
“Patrick got stuck right in at 9am and did more than his share until 2pm.
“What Calamity Kayaking needs now is help from Glasgow City Council and Renfrewshire Council so we can make real change.
“If we have staff full time on the water we can clean-up years of mess.”
Saturday’s river clean with Patrick Harvie is just the latest mission of environmental activist and kayak instructor Paul.
Others have included hauling out 100 trollies from the Clyde at Braehead and says centre management won’t get involved.
And as the COP26 conference ended he took to the water on a raft he made of discarded plastic bottles.
Download the FREE Renfrewshire Live app now for all the latest news, features and sport in your area. Available on both Android and Apple. Download here:smarturl.it/RenfrewLiveSocial
