Dom Ferris of Trash Free Trails on Trail Litter and How We Fix It
The Ride Companion
TRC Media House
4.9 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 131 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dom Ferris, founder of Trash Free Trails joins The Ride Companion to talk about one of the biggest issues affecting every rider, runner and outdoor space user: single-use pollution on our trails.
Dom explains how Trash Free Trails started, why trail litter is about far more than 'bad behaviour' and how mountain bikers can take real ownership of the places they ride. The conversation goes deep into MTB trail stewardship, nature connection, mental health, community action and the systems that keep single-use pollution showing up in the outdoors.
We also dive into the data behind trail litter, the reality of what's being found on UK trails, why drinks cans, bottles, gels and food packaging are such a major problem along with how new legislation like a deposit return scheme could help change things. There's loads in here too on trail culture, bike park responsibility, how to make cleanups more positive, and why Dom believes outrage alone won't solve anything. If you care about mountain biking, trail building, riding spots, the outdoor community, litter picking, environmental action, access to nature and keeping trails clean, this is an episode you need to hear and share with your community. We hope you enjoy the episode!
Learn more about Trash Free Trails and the Spring clean at trashfreetrails.org/
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Edited By: Doug Tucker, onlyflightdispatch.com & TRC Media House
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Okay, what do you want us to do? |
| 0:00.8 | He says nothing, just keep doing what you're doing. |
| 0:02.5 | Because mountain bikers, cleaning up their trails is a perfect example of the opposite of what they're saying you do. Yeah. So that's the thing because, again, kids are legal trails, the first thing they'll say is, well, they're shit everywhere. So that's why we're going to knock their trails down. But it's much harder to say, they really care for it. They're planted trubs. |
| 0:23.6 | They're not... So that's why we're going to knock their trails down. But it's much harder to say, they really care for it. |
| 0:22.7 | They planted shrubs. |
| 0:24.6 | I was greeted by a valet. |
| 0:27.5 | I was greeted by a valet. |
| 0:37.1 | Davy, sometimes we have guests on that I am excited to speak to. |
| 0:42.1 | Yes. |
| 0:42.6 | For many different reasons. |
| 0:44.4 | But this one, I think our listeners are going to be, this affects every single one of us. |
| 0:49.2 | It does. |
| 0:49.7 | This is a good audience for this guest. |
| 0:51.6 | Would you agree? |
| 0:52.2 | I totally agree. |
| 0:53.1 | Cannot wait to welcome |
| 0:54.7 | Don Ferris, founder of Trash Free Trails. Oh, thanks for joining us. Hey, no worries. Yeah. |
| 1:01.2 | Thanks for welcoming me in this pretty cool old building. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, it is cool. |
| 1:06.0 | Yeah. We made sure we did the recycling before you came over. Literally. Actually, did do it. |
| 1:28.6 | Actually, did do it. It wasn't actually just for you. It was looking like a bit of a tip, yeah. A contained tip, right? Yeah, we've collected some stuff over the last. However long we've been in here, six months or something. Yeah, we'd... Oh, there was just a pile, was a mound. The night have been hey it's it happens but i am i really mean it i think that every single person that listens this podcast is like |
| 1:34.1 | passionate about riding their bikes they don't have to be passionate about anything else they're |
| 1:37.3 | passionate about riding their bikes and we all ride i think it's just one of those things that |
... |
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