Trash Free Trails

Trash Free Trails We exist to protect our trails and the wild places they take us. Get involved 👇

Last month we hosted a TrashMob Academy session with Ed Roberts at Pedal MTB Ltd, and while we could explain what that m...
25/05/2026

Last month we hosted a TrashMob Academy session with Ed Roberts at Pedal MTB Ltd, and while we could explain what that means, we think Ed says it better!

"At Pedal MTB, we believe every young person deserves the chance to experience the freedom of riding in nature. Partnering with Trash Free Trails and supporting the TrashMob Academy allowed us to do exactly that.

Introducing kids to mountain biking while instilling a deep respect for the trails and wild spaces we all love. When young people connect with the outdoors on two wheels, it builds confidence, resilience, and a lifelong relationship with nature. It’s also a load of FUN!

Those experiences shape who they become, and we're proud to play a small part in that.” - Ed

Hey you! It was downright lovely to meet you at an event recently 🙂If you spent time at our tent, we hope your learnt so...
22/05/2026

Hey you! It was downright lovely to meet you at an event recently 🙂

If you spent time at our tent, we hope your learnt something, even if it was just by sheltering from the wind, rain or sun!

If we could give you a little virtual postcard to take home with you, it’d be this.

👀 calls for all energy gel producers to design their packaging with a retainer strap on them to reduce the amount of gel-ends we find torn off

🍫 OneGoodThing / DualFuelBottle / ForTheTrail / LuchosEnergyBlocks / HKTProducts for our own wraps!

🧼 To report what you find:
- Take note of the postcode you’re in
- Keep track of which categories of trash you find
- Count the total amount of items if you can
- Submit them on our page!

🤗 When reporting your items to us, tell us how you felt along the way

📸 Pete Scullion

19/05/2026

🚨Don’t let the gel graveyard fool you‼️

Yes, this may seem like an awful lot to be left after a race.

And yes, eating real food is better for your insides than gels.

But yes, this is one of the cleanest events we’ve ever been to!!

We’re a sucker for numbers. Given there were 3,500 riders that covered 74km of trail at the The Gralloch our post event survey found just 344 total items.

Which works out to be less than 0.1 items per participant - now of course we would love that to be 0 items pp, but this is already cleaner than last year so we’re here to celebrate the small wins!

For the itemised breakdown:
🐝 145 gel sachets
🐞 64 gel ends
🍊 3 fruit peel

16/05/2026

One thing we’re really proud of working on
as part of our Programme is to offer the event organisers advice on waste management. (We really love trash talk 🍌)

It starts by identifying the issues, ideally before they start, but also intervene appropriately on site when they’ve started.

In this case at UTMB World Series UTS we noticed the bins overflowing in the morning, something that can snowball incredibly quickly.

We spoke to the event team, making them aware of the problem and despite them being super busy we were able to work positively with each other and use our bin bags as a temporary overflow solution before the trucks were called in by midday to empty the bins - pat on the backs all round we reckon?

13/05/2026

Now then! Gel Ends!

As soon as the end of a gel is torn completely off it’s no longer of any use - it’s a negligible item. We believe this is a grave error in the packet’s design. 😔 Perhaps unintentionally, a gel end has been made to be dropped as soon as it’s separated from the packet.

The idea of a ‘retainer strap’ on the packet simply means it will be significantly harder for the gel end to be fully torn off - similar to the tether introduced on plastic drinks bottles last year.

This is a small change that could make a big difference. Just this year alone a fifth of our surveys report finding gel ends on trails‼️ with Science in Sport and HIGH5 Sports Nutrition as a few of the most prevalent brands we find in wild places.

A small change like a retainer strap could eradicate this item from causing harm on our trails. Go on, you know you wanna sign the petition. https://www.trashfreetrails.org/dont-be-a-gel-end

How does trail cleaning make you feel? We asked: you answered! 🙏In March we launched our Report and piloted a new surv...
11/05/2026

How does trail cleaning make you feel?

We asked: you answered! 🙏

In March we launched our Report and piloted a new survey at this year’s Spring Cleans to help us start to understand this question, and the results are in!!

Take a look, do any words resonate with you more or less than others? Do you have any other ways to describe how you feel? Let us know on our Nature (Re)connection webpage! 🌳

Summer in the city? Even we can't deny there's nothing better.But just because you might not *think* it's a trail, doesn...
08/05/2026

Summer in the city? Even we can't deny there's nothing better.

But just because you might not *think* it's a trail, doesn't mean it's not worth giving back to, don't you think? 💚

Join us, Ellis Brigham and KEEN next month for a summertime trail clean in Bristol: our favourite city!

📆 Sunday June 7th
⏰ 11-2pm
📍 Meet at Ellis Brigham on Whiteladies Road

Expect goody bags, prizes and drinks at afterwards! Free sign up here: https://www.trashfreetrails.org/event-details/bristol-trail-clean-with-keen-ellis-brigham-2

Who's coming?👇

📸 Sam Dorrian

Bolehills BMX Track x 🦡🎬🎹👀🐼🎲🎳🎱🎱ft. Igloo Coolers DMR Bikes Access Sport Mondraker Bikes
06/05/2026

Bolehills BMX Track x

🦡🎬🎹👀🐼🎲🎳🎱🎱

ft. Igloo Coolers DMR Bikes Access Sport Mondraker Bikes

Spring Cleans - you’ll always have our heart.Collectively this year you have removed over 16,000 items of single-use pol...
01/05/2026

Spring Cleans - you’ll always have our heart.

Collectively this year you have removed over 16,000 items of single-use pollution!! With over 30 community groups hosting their own trail cleans it’s no wonder we’ve felt beyond inspired by what everyone’s achieved 🫰🏼

And so without further ado a hugggeee thank you to those groups that participated! Same again next year yeah 😉

Roots Community Suffolk
Leisure Lakes Bikes Ulverston
Mercia Cycles
Rate of Rise
TFT calderdale
Mount Hawke Mules
INOV8 Sheffield x PFTC
Roundup219
GorpGirls
Dalby Forest
GoApe Thetford
Tarland Trails
Hope Valley Climate Action
Bikes and Bird Hides
Alex 7 Summits
Barry Sidings Cafe
The South West Coast Path
Surfers Against Sewage
Dee Valley Clean Up
Red Brick Cycles
Charity Bike Shop
Specialized Harrogate

📸 Oli Visuals

29/04/2026

We’re back for another season of Trash Free Races 🎉 the SPF is getting pre-ordered and the jaffle maker is being cleaned as we speak!

Discover where we’re going (in chronological order) for all those campfire conversations:

🚲 Red Bull Glasgow BMX sessions
🍌 UTMB World Series Snowdonia
🌲 The Gralloch
🌿All Terre Bristol Rally
🔥Fireride festival
🪨Ard Rock
🍻The Malverns Classic
🏅Coquet Classic
🏁Maverick Lakes Race

Huge thank yous to the race organisers who are doing their bit, and flying the TFT flag whether we’re there or not! As well as our TFT Race Partners without whom this wouldn’t be possible.

Head to our website 🔗 to see exactly how you can leave an event cleaner, simply because you were there 🧡

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