In every family photo album, there are usually a few constants captured: the beloved labrador, that ugly orange fleece, or for Mike Scotland’s family, the ever-present litter picker.
Mike’s eldest child, Lucio, picked up his first piece of litter, an empty Lucozade bottle, when he was 18 months old on a park visit.
Now five years old, and taking part in litter picks since he was two, Lucio rarely returns from a walk without holding a bag filled with trash treasure.
Something he definitely gets from his dad.
The health and safety officer in the oil and gas industry is well known in the north-east for his community clean-ups and work on mental health.
He has even started a “retro” litter collection to help inspire the next generation.
Enjoying teaching his son early on, Mike, 32, said: “We’d go out walking and exploring. It gave us a chance to explore nature, the forest, river, butterflies, insects, animals and all sorts.
“And it wasn’t just cleaning, it was all about education. It gave us time to spend with each other. It was a son and dad thing.
“Lucio still does his litter-picking whenever we get a chance.”
Why did the litter-picking start?
While the group Mike started, called Community Clean Up, now has thousands of members online, he admitted the initiative was born from a difficult time.
During his 20s, Mike went through a really challenging period with his mental health.
He reached his darkest breaking point on a rubbish-filled bank by the River Don where he wanted to take his own life.
Thankfully he walked away, but the spot continued to serve as an unwelcome reminder whenever he would wander past.
Until one day, Mike decided to take the memory into his own hands.
“I went back there and decided to basically clean it up,” the Bucksburn resident said.
“I couldn’t walk past it anymore, without feeling like there was a shadow over me.
“So I went down to the riverside one day with three empty black bags and began filling them up.
“And a person that was cycling past me stopped at the top of the stairs and he asked me what I was doing.
“I just told him I was litter-picking, he asked if I wanted help and me and this stranger called Massimo De Bella spent the next few hours litter-picking together.
“We ended up filling three black bags of rubbish up, but it barely touched the surface of the area itself because it had been used as a dumping ground for decades.”
Riverside dumping ground transformed to wildlife haven
Inspired by the paired clean-up, Mike told Massimo he was going to start a litter-picking group called Community Clean Up and the next day, a Wednesday, he started making plans.
By the Saturday he was hosting the first event. Six people showed up and managed to clear 661lb of rubbish – the equivalent weight of two pandas.
By the next weekend, the group – and the rubbish collected – doubled, and over the next few weeks the group collected more than 29,762lb of litter from a 300m riverside stretch, and 5,511lb of metal from the river.
In other words, that is the weight of two and a half elephants, nine and a half cars, or a lot of pandas.
Turning the river stretch into a nature trail, Mike said the real highlight was when otters were spotted swimming down the river for the first time in 40 years.
“The environment’s one thing…but it’s also such a good way to bring everyone down as equals.
“I think it brings people back down to earth and to the reality that it’s our planet, and we all need to look after it in some form, it doesn’t matter who you are.
“It’s about engaging with your local communities and others.
“I find it so inspiring and uplifting the people you meet just from doing it.”
Litter picker goes ‘everywhere’ with Mike’s family
It is something Mike strives to pass on to his three children, Lucio, Milana and Lexi, no matter how young they are.
Nikki Dalton, partner and mother of his youngest, 10-month-old Lexi, said a litter picker is never far away.
She said: “It goes everywhere with us…it’s just the norm for us now.”
Mike remembers when Nikki was overdue with their daughter, they still managed to fit in one last litter pick and now often do the same on walks with the buggy.
LinkedIn posts led to love
Nikki, who also works in health and safety but in the field of renewable energy, first saw Mike’s posts on LinkedIn.
Then when she travelled to Aberdeen for work and was matched with Mike on a dating site, she realised she was meeting the LinkedIn mental health advocate/ environmentalist in the flesh.
“That’s why I was sort of really drawn to him,” she admitted.
“I had seen a lot of his posts…the whole mental health thing, I think not a lot of people speak about that, so for me he seemed really open and came across as a really good dad.
“Just all the traits and characteristics you would want in somebody.”
‘I’m totally inspired by what Mike does to ingrain it into our own kids’
While Community Clean Up is “all Mike”, Nikki often helps organise equipment for the group when Mike is offshore, and enjoys the family outings.
And for the Bucksburn family, Nikki said it is a great way of encouraging them all to get out and about.
She added: “It’s just an all-round positive to be out doing something for the environment and having that walking family time. It takes kids away from their iPads and computers.
“The more you walk and the more litter picking you see, it encourages you to keep going.
“You do naturally become prouder of your area.
“I’m totally inspired by what Mike does to ingrain that into our own kids.
“I think from a generational perspective, if we can teach kids and people to look after the environment and not litter in the first place, then I’d hope in 40 to 50 years’ time that we’re not finding litter packets.
“We can react to the litter we’ve got now but we can also prevent it.
“Mike does it for community reasons and cleaning up the environment but I think sometimes he forgets how much he inspires people as well. He’s a very positive person but he’s a very inspirational person even to me as his partner as well.
“And I know that he’ll be a total inspiration to his kids. They follow in his footsteps.”
Trying to lead by example for the next generation
Mike’s two children from a previous relationship, Lucio and Milana, are already doing just that.
With Lucio during lockdown, father and son would dress up in Batman costumes for their litter picks, “out fighting litter against the world”.
It was also Lucio who inspired the city’s “biggest ever” beach clean after Storm Babet last year.
The pair went for a walk after the storm had passed and Lucio, amazed at the amount of rubbish strewn on the beach, asked his dad if they could clean it up.
The result was more than 400 bags of rubbish being cleared from the iconic beachfront by over 350 people.
But Mike doesn’t just stop with his kids. Recently speaking at Northfield Academy, for a week S1s went out into their local area clearing the area of 65 bags’ worth of litter.
Part of his pep talk was showing the students part of his retro litter collection.
Mike said: “When you show kids these sorts of things, you get them to understand that their actions now can affect things in 50 years’ time. But the question is, do you want it to be a positive action or a negative one?
“And it makes them think and it gives them the ownership of taking control of their futures essentially.”
Speaking about his own family, the dad added: “You know, they say action speaks a lot louder than words.
“That’s what I’m trying to do as a father and as a figure to my kids, is trying to lead by example.”
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