Fife Coastal Path: Tents abandoned on route upcycled for ‘responsible users’
Tents abandoned on Fife Coastal Path are being upcycled - and then handed to people who will use them responsibly.
The Kingdom’s hugely popular route saw a rise in the number of people abandoning camping equipment during the summer.
In just one weekend alone, Fife Coast and Countryside Trust’s maintenance team recovered four tents and associated equipment from the Coastline.
The path remains hugely popular with walkers, cyclists and runners, woith more people discovering its beauty during periods of lockdown across the last 18 months.
But the trust has turned that negative into a positive by upcycling the equipment when possible and passing it on to responsible users.
Last week, Sandra Smith, principal teacher of nurture at Glenrothes High School collected twop tents and a sleeping bag for future use from Tom Quayle, the trust’s access and recreation manager.
Sandra, who runs an outdoor learning club and a nurture group at the school said, ‘We are delighted to be gifted the tents and sleeping bag.
“We look forward to learning about responsible camping.
“Once Covid settles down we plan to take pupils on some overnight camping trips next year.”The trust said abandoned tents not only scar the landscape, but can also trigger searches for individuals who may have got into difficulty.
Tom added: “We are delighted to pass on the camping equipment for future use rather than disposing of it to landfill and we look forward to building links with Glenrothes High School and working with staff and pupils to create a generation of responsible campers.”