We walked from Shoreham-by-Sea to Bramber and back with plenty of litter to pick up. Admittedly I ended up with only half a carrier bag full of litter, because I was talking more than looking out for litter. But half a bag is also worth something, isn’t it?

I can only show you a photo of the bag, but I almost wish, I could publish the smell that went with the bag – it was not pretty!

I’m sure that everyone else who participated put far more effort into the clean-up than me, so hopefully you’re now enjoying a much cleaner neighbourhood! For anyone local to Shoreham-by-Sea or Bramber, I’m afraid, it’ll take just a few more bags before your area is clean.

During the weekend, which runs from 13-14 October 2007, Google is encouraging all of us to go out and clean up our local area, but if you are travelling that weekend, why not join one of the clean-ups planned for you travel destination?

Google Maps is encouraging anyone who is organising a clean-up to publish a map with details of where to meet, etc. All of the clean-up maps have been plotted on to a map of the world by Google Maps. So you can use these handy maps to see what is planned for your travel destination.

If nothing has been planned for wherever you are going, then you can easily organise your own clean-up by picking a spot (e.g. the area around your hotel) and publishing a map along with details, so that other travellers or locals can join you.

I’ll be on a walk in West Sussex, UK on 14 October and I plan to participate in the International Cleanup Weekend by picking up as much litter as I can carry on the walk. The exact route has yet to be confirmed, so I won’t be sharing a map with you, but I will publish photographic evidence on 15 October on this blog. Check back then if you want to see what litter West Sussex had to offer.

You can read all about the project on Google Maps’ International Cleanup Weekend website. Don’t forget to check out the world map of all the clean-ups planned so far and Google maps has even created an easy-to-follow guide to organising your own clean-up.

So happy litter hunting and do let me know how it went!