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Litter in the mountains - and at home!

Tak It Hame is our campaign that says what it means: encouraging the mountaineering community, and others, to remove litter and plastic from our hills and crags.  

The campaign was all set to relaunch this spring BUT with the arrival of the Coronavirus restriction, things haven’t gone to plan! So instead, we're asking you to TakItHame while you are on your daily exercise around your local area instead. Of course, the first consideration at this time is to stay safe and observe the social distancing and hand hygiene rules. 

Only do what you assess is safe and feel comfortable doing – do not put yourself or others at risk. Use a litter picker if you have one, or gloves (disposable or otherwise); use hand sanitizer and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.   

There are three key things to remember: 

  1.  Don’t pick up anything that might put you at risk, like sharp objects, tissues or dog waste. 
  2.  Dispose of litter at home by sorting into your recycling or landfill bins, depending on what it is you have picked up, wash the bag thoroughly and use again. 
  3.  Take a photo of what you have collected and share on social media, using the hashtag #TakItHame, and tag Mountaineering Scotland on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so we can see what you have been doing. 

Tak It Hame aims to make a difference  

We encourage everyone taking to the hills and climbing the crags to do a little on every trip, individually, or as part of a group or club outing.  And to show others too: tell the world that we can all do something.  Many of us already do, but the litter still accumulates. We need more people to do the same.  

This message applies locally as well as up the hills, so you can make your own local area a nicer, cleaner place too.

The message is: can you bring back more than you took out?

So what can we, every one of us, do?

  • Firstly, we can think about the choices we make when buying, consuming and disposing of food and drink items that we take along with us.  We know the story: reduce packaging, reuse bags and bottles, recycle all that can be recycled.
  • Secondly, we can step up to the ongoing challenge of cleaning up the hillside of lost or discarded items. Not just the items we bring in with us, but the things that lie there, trampled into the soil, blown into bushes or lodged in cracks.

Join us and support our campaigns

Since our foundation as the Mountaineering Council of Scotland nearly 50 years ago, Mountaineering Scotland has been representing the views and needs of hill walkers, mountaineers, climbers and snowsports tourers in Scotland. We work closely with our members, the media, partner organisations, the government and landowners to make a real difference on the matters that affect us all.

By becoming a member of Mountaineering Scotland, you are supporting this work and adding your voice to that of 14,000 other members by getting involved in our campaigns to protect access rights and encourage sustainable mountain environments.

Join us