Carpet, polystyrene and even a pregnancy test collected from River Don in clean-up effort

Staff from Aberdeen Airport spent hours cleaning up the river where they uncovered some unusual items.

By Ross Hempseed

April 13 2022, 2:00 pm

Volunteers help clean up the banks of the River Don. Image: AGS Airports.

A clean-up effort by staff at Aberdeen Airport has highlighted the level of rubbish present along the River Don.

Eleven staff volunteered, collecting 14 bags of rubbish in just a few hours of work.

Airport staff along with business partners Nats and Travelex also joined the affectionately named Abz Clean Up Crew on April 12.

The River Don passes through many towns on its journey through the north-east, including Alford, Kemnay, Inverurie, Kintore, and Dyce.

It is prone to flooding, which can negatively impact residents’ lives and businesses, and excess water can pull litter and debris back into the water course.

However, it also benefits from a diverse catchment of Atlantic Salmon, sea trout, eels and lamprey, with brown trout perhaps the most well-known.

While fish may be what anglers are after on the Don, sometimes debris can make it difficult to navigate the fast-flowing waters.

Volunteers made use of the clear day to get collecting to help keep the River Don clean. Image: AGS Airports.

‘Important for us all to keep cleaning up’

The Abz Clean Up Crew found some unusual items while litter-picking along the Don, including carpet, a slab of polystyrene, a single Nike trainer, a Simpsons DVD wrapped in shorts and a pregnancy test.

Gavin Morrison, sustainability coordinator at Aberdeen Airport, said: “I want to thank everyone who gave up the time during a busy work day to be involved with our Abz clean-up crew.

“At the end of the last year, we asked our staff and business partners if this was the sort of initiative they’d like to be a part of and it was wonderful to see their response.

In total, 14 bags of debris including patches of carpet were collected. Image: AGS Airports.

“The airport has been part of this local community since 1934 and we are happy we could help give back in this small way.

“We hope we will be able to do similar initiatives throughout the year and I urge anyone with similar initiatives that we can possibly support to get in touch.”

The clean-up effort is part of Keep Scotland’s Beautiful’s 2023 Spring Clean.

Last year, more than 62,000 people got involved in clearing up litter across Scotland, helping to remove 650 tonnes of rubbish.

Paul Wallace, campaigns and innovation manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Many of us are angry that we must come together to tackle litter in the first place, but we know that cleaner places are less likely to be littered again, so it is important for us all to keep cleaning up while we work on the long term behaviour change which is so badly needed.”