‘All litter is just things in the wrong place’

"The strangest thing I've found?" Patrick Jackson ponders the fruits of litter picking. "Ahh, yes: the three heads of Ken." Strangely enough the children's book author turned environmental campaigner once discovered three disembodied versions of Barbie's plastic companion on a Howth beach. Not a body nor a Barbie in sight. "But really, there's no such thing as litter," he continues. "All litter is just things in the wrong place."

Now, Jackson's Picker Pals project aims to get us all putting stuff where it belongs. From crisp packets to plastic toys, bits of cardboard to – well, pretty much anything you can think of – someone has discarded it somewhere.

One of those ideas that is genius in its simplicity, Picker Pals is a classroom pack – delivered free to schools, that gives kids the tools to get active, and get noticing the world around them. It all started when, out for a walk with his dog Frostie, Jackson found a seagull stuck in some discarded fishing line. “I rescued it – it pecked me, quite badly. The next day I went back and found a litter-picker in the same spot.” Some things are just meant to be.

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Picker Pals at work. Photograph: Juno Hegarty

Litter picker in hand, Jackson discovered the joys of cleaning up. "Once you start, you can't stop," he says. "You get in the zone. It's mindful, and you're making your environment better." Starting in just one school in 2018, Picker Pals has grown to reach 1,200 classrooms, and counting so far. And with support from Voice (Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment), local authorities, Government and more, they're on a drive to spread the word to every school in Ireland, and out into the world.

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Baked cod, spiced pepper rice, saffron cream dressing

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Irish whiskey with a distinctly Japanese flavour

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So how does it work? The first school to pick up Picker Pals was Howth's Burrow National School, where Jackson's own children (now grown up) had been educated. Principal Lynn Harley is a committed fan. "We started with first class, so six and seven year olds. Now it's in second and third too. They're really enthusiastic, asking can we go Picker Palling. It has become a verb."

Fun element

Adding a crucial element of fun – Jackson is witty and irreverent, as well as determined to help make the world a better place – the Picker Pals pack includes a colourful bag made from recycled sails (the original was made from a pair of old waders, by Jackson’s mum), containing litter pickers and gloves in child and adult sizes, litter bags, hi vis vests, hand sanitiser, and a story and activity book to get you started. Each child takes it in turn to bring the bag home, go litter picking with their parents, and then come back and tell the class of their discoveries. There’s no additional work for the teachers, it fits in with the environmental studies and science side of the curriculum, and, as Harley adds, it has that vital feel-good factor.

So, are the parents into it too? Harley remembers one being initially sceptical – but she says they end up completely enthused, as well as horrified about the rubbish in their locality. I wonder what Jackson thinks of the people who do the littering itself? “I don’t think those people are disgusting,” he says, surprisingly. “It’s a cultural thing. There are plenty of countries where people don’t litter at all. It’s not rocket science to cure. We can stop people littering in Ireland. You just start young.”

Find out about Picker Pals for your school at pickerpalsworld.org