Woman, 79, travels 500 miles with free bus pass to pick up litter

08 January 2024 , 13:07

518     0

Ruth is a litter picker (Image: Courtesy Ruth Major / SWNS)

A 79-year-old pensioner travelled 500 miles using her free bus pass to pick up litter after being inspired by a man doing the same in France.

Ruth Major, who started her campaign to "beautify Britain" after seeing a similar initiative in France, has spent the last seven years travelling around the country collecting around 100,000 pieces of rubbish. Ruth's recent challenge saw her travel on 59 buses from her home in Redruth, Cornwall, to Berwick-upon-Tweed – where her bus pass stops working.

The retired teacher said: "It's been an amazing adventure. I had a fantastic time. Everywhere has its own beauty but it's blighted by rubbish. We can beautify our country." Ruth began travelling around using her bus pass in May 2016 after wanting to visit family who had lived in Paignton.

She was inspired by a campaign in France encouraging people to pick up one piece of rubbish a day and decided to do the same in the UK. She used her bus pass to get around and stayed in properties owned by the Hanover Housing Association, where she is a resident, for a cheap price. Ruth shared photos of rubbish on her social media as she went along.

"It naturally came together as a project," she said. "I thought, I'm going to call to beautify Britain." Ruth was living in Oldham, Greater Manchester, at the time but when Covid hit she moved down to Cornwall to be closer to family. After the pandemic, Ruth, who is fondly known as "Rubbish Ruth", embarked on a three-week journey across the country in July 2023.

Exact date to book your holiday so you swerve £25 charge to get to the airport

Ruth Major, 79, travels to pick up litter (Courtesy Ruth Major / SWNS)

She wants to beautify Britain (Courtesy Ruth Major / SWNS)

She visited numerous towns and cities including Weymouth, Southampton, Derby, Sheffield, Scarborough and Newcastle. Ruth said: "We can all do something." "We can't allow the few to make it a mess." She encourages everyone to pick up a piece of rubbish a day and is already planning her next challenge to travel around the country picking up rubbish using buses.

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Mirror.co.uk