4279 green bottles standing on the wall

"This doesn't look too bad!" was our first thought at the sight of North Acton tube station. The mission listing promised mounting heaps of rubbish - and good coffee. North Acton Square on Saturday afternoon offered neither. Madhan, who has just arrived for his first-ever GoodGym mission, had all the right to feel disappointed. But he wasn't at all! He showed up first, enthusiastic and keen to meet new people - doesn't that deserve a cheer?

Sevan, Kash and Gen arrived soon after Madhan. For a while, the team considered moving straight to a more promising location. Gen, who had the most faith in the litter resources of North Acton Square, proposed to stick to the original site, pointing at a miserable sandwich on the ground. Next to it lay a soggy cookie and, further down, a bottle. Wow, a meal deal!

We soon discovered that, while the litter armageddon from Thursday disappeared, the waste was actually swept under the carpet. Or, if you prefer, to the flowerbeds! We grabbed our trash harpoons and jumped into action. Madhan was quickly learning how to wield a litter picker, Sevan and Gen were already using theirs like pros, and Kash broke hers within 5 minutes. Until the unlucky litter picker was repaired after the mission by Sevan, Kash resorted to doing pushups to uncover hidden bottles below the sitting areas.

North Acton Square had two distinctive spaces: a "cafeteria" (upstairs) and a "bar" (downstairs). Gen and Kash, who went up, uncovered sandwich and crisps packaging, also water and soft drink bottles. Madhan and Sevan, who covered the lower area, found plenty of beer cans and beer, wine and vodka bottles.

The result: 5 full bags of rubbish 🗑️

Notable findings:

• 4279 green bottles (or something like that)

• 2 unbroken eggs

• 2 cute tiny plush toys

• a handbag

• a football and a shoe

After the successful cleanup in the wind and drizzle, we all went to warm ourselves up with a well-deserved cup of coffee, tea or chai latte ☕ at a coffee van in the local park. Along the way we spotted another litter hotspot - maybe a sequel task (and another coffee)?