The Woods

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By Morven MckinnonBBC Scotland News

TikToker Josh Donaldson posts videos of his litter picking in Scotland's forests.

He has a following of 1. 5 million and thousands of views per video.

His hobby of clearing rubbish from forests near his home in Arbroath, Angus, has turned him into a local sensation.

But with followers in countries including the USA and Vietnam, the 32-year-old has reached people around The World .

They have even helped him crowdfund to buy a van to help him carry out bigger clean-ups.

Josh is always looking to do more for The Environment and hopes his work can inspire others.

His goal was never to gain this much popularity.

When he first started posting on TikTok, his videos focused on Mental Health and he would often film himself walking and talking about it.

After briefly mentioning he cleaned up litter as a hobby, his following encouraged him to post video of himself doing just that.

His daughter was his main motivation for this in the First Place . After she was born, Josh realised his environmental anxiety had increased and he wanted to Do Something to help.

" I wasn't motivated to do much about what I was leaving behind until we had her, " he told Bbc Scotland .

" Now that I know it's a world that she's going to be living in, it makes me want to Leave It a bit better than it is. "

Josh is Outside In all weathers clearing up what he can. He usually finds plastic bottles, food packets, vapes, and glass.

On one occasion he found a pile of 300 tyres, on another a pig's head.

Some days he spends hours in the same spot, but enjoys being outside as it doesn't feel like work.

" It's definitely rewarding, " He Said . " It can be quite taxing and difficult and at times, you can get disenfranchised and demotivated.

" But I think for The Most part, when you start to see The Stuff piling up, or you walk somewhere that was a mess and now it isn't, it is a good feeling! "

Over The Years , Josh has dealt with Mental Health issues and finds that being in nature is a good healer.

" I think The Reward from picking stuff up is fantastic and it feels great but just being out in nature at all is a big healer, " He Said .

" I feel like being among The Trees you get a better breath and can calm down a wee bit and be away from the struggles of what's going on At Home and whatever.

" So, I think there's a lot to be said for just getting outside, but getting outside and picking up rubbish at the same Time Is a bonus, " says Josh.

His work has inspired others to go and clean up their own local areas. People often send him videos of them picking up litter and doing beach cleans, after seeing his videos.

Once he's finished a litter pick, he separates the rubbish and takes it to The Local council waste recycling centre.

His following are very supportive and his comments are filled with positive feedback. They even raised funds for a van to transport the results of his bigger clean-ups to the waste plant.

His long term goal is to Set Up his own recycling centre where he can separate the materials and take a bit of pressure off The Council .

Ideally, this would allow renewable materials to be produced from the recycled litter.

" Going forward, The Next step is to get premises so I can have a recycling centre, " He Said . " I can build basically a place where I can take all The Stuff and redistribute it in a meaningful manor. Recycle as much as possible.

" I think going forwards if we can make positive changes and do nice things it might not change everything but it might make a nicer walk for The Kids , a nicer walk in The Woods that it would have without, so I think it's Worth It . "

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Source of news: bbc.com