Josh Donaldson, also known on TikTok as “The Litter Picker” and Instagram as “EarthDr0p”, has used his background in sales to sell the idea of doing good in the outdoors by picking up litter and rubbish. After having his daughter, he took a keen interest in what his generation was leaving behind for the next, and so began cleaning up rubbish from random food wrappers to fly-tipping on a big scale. Josh wants to leave the legacy of a clean environment and care by recycling anything and everything possible. His ambition is to leave the world in a better state than the way he found it, and to encourage others to do the same.
Josh’s commitment to collecting rubbish has become a full-time job as he chooses to not only dispose of rubbish appropriately, but also recycles 60-80% of what he finds. He has rented a yard to sort rubbish and create arts and crafts to fund his work. He also has a Patreon account which accepts followers’ donations, helping Josh financially, although he admits to often running at a loss. His plan is to create a business model where rubbish can be sorted, recycled and used to create saleable items to fund the operation.
Josh is a Mental Health ambassador who advocates for getting people active outdoors and doing rewarding work by cleaning up the environment. Josh picks up litter at least three to four times a week in the Angus area but will make stops whenever he sees litter or even on family holidays!
Josh has made a difference to rural Scotland by cleaning up rubbish wherever he goes and removing eye sores like fly-tipping. Not only have private and public landowners benefitted from his activities, but others who see him on social media (1.7million followers) are influenced by his activities. Josh is motivated to clean up for the sake of wildlife, birds, passersby, hikers and his community. He is focused on tidying up fly-tipping before the rubbish spreads and has received videos from people all over the world that have been influenced by his work and chosen to clean up their communities.
Josh wants to set up a recycling centre for people in Glamis and the local area to take their rubbish because the council does not provide one. He would like all waste to be processed properly and to connect with local businesses who can repurpose materials like plastics, aluminum and timber. He would like his model to be used in other parts of Scotland and the USA, where there has been strong interest in his work. Josh uses his social media status to spread positive energy and believes that by working together, we can achieve great things.