A Perthshire outdoor adventure company has had its litter-picking efforts acknowledged in national awards.
Beyond Adventure near Aberfeldy has been shortlisted for an environmental gong at the British Canoeing Delivery Partner Awards and will find out if it is a winner when the body meets for its annual conference on January 27.
Ross Dempster, managing director of Beyond Adventure, tweeted how thrilled he was to be shortlisted for top spot in the ‘Committed to the Environment’ category.
“Very proud that Beyond Adventure has been shortlisted for this award,” a proud Ross noted.
“We put a lot of time and effort into going the extra mile to help our environment locally. It’s always nice to get recognition for hard work.”
Ross regularly hosts free days in a canoe for people to come along and pluck rubbish from the riverbanks.
His kayaks and paddle boards regularly pass abandoned plastic and drinks bottles stuck in the undergrowth along the River Tay.
And the business owner has partnered with Keep Scotland Beautiful this year to carry out a local project and he has involvement with the global movement Planet Patrol to promote environmental awareness in Highland Perthshire.
As well as not only fixing other people’s mess, the outdoor adventure firm also tries not to generate its own.
“We aim to be carbon neutral and work with Trees for Life to plant trees to offset our emissions each year,” Ross revealed.
“When we take people camping we are responsible visitors with a ‘leave no trace’ ethic, we use low pollution, energy-efficient vehicles, recycle all paper, cardboard and plastic used in our operation plus we stay away from single use plastics and containers wherever possible.”
