My first thought when I read the article a friend had forwarded to me was: “Well – we have a lot of practice, don’t we?” But then I realised that I had this completely wrong, and that if we had a lot of practice, I wouldn’t be so disgusted by the problem. So my third thought, was: “Yay – we won something!”. I’d never heard of the concept but I learned that not only is there a Litter Picking World Cup – otherwise known as the Spogomi World Cup - but that Britain had won this year’s event, having collected 83Kg (183lb) of rubbish, in a two-square-mile area, in just 45 minutes. They beat 20 other teams from all over the world, winning by nearly 3,000 points after bagging 27.7Kg (61lb) more rubbish than their closest rival and competition host Japan, who came second. Hearty congratulations then to Alexander Winship, Jonathan Winship and Sarah Parry, whose team name was ‘The North Will Rise Again’ – and to all the teams, who between them managed to collect almost 544Kg (1,200lb) of rubbish!  

  

The competition sounds intense… Just 45 minutes to collect litter then 20 minutes to sort it, aware that points are based on the type and amount of rubbish collected per 100 grams (3.5oz). Cigarette butts 100 points, PET bottles 25 points, cans and bottles 12 points and other rubbish 10 points. A referee accompanies each team to ensure that no rules are broken, such as running, or picking through rubbish bins. Marathon runner Sarah told The Times: “It's such a good sport… strategic and intense; physically, psychologically. It involves real teamwork.” Prioritising things such as scrap metal and other heavy items helped with the win, apparently, as these could be picked up more quickly – although the downside was having to carry them around – something the stronger team members take on.   

  

Spogomi founder, Kenichi Mamitsuka, conceived the idea of a global competition when he began picking up litter on his morning runs and realised that setting targets could turn it into a fun activity and achieve something for the environment. He organised his first competition 15 years ago, taking the title from the words 'sport' and 'gomi' - Japanese for rubbish. His dream is for the formation of national Spogomi associations and, one day, inclusion in the Olympic Games. I really hope his dreams are realised. Just imagine the difference those out practicing for even the annual events, could make to our environments, globally!