EXCLUSIVE: Meet the Arbroath TikToker having a world-wide impact
Josh Donaldson, known as Earthdrop on the app, has over 1.4 million followers
Last updated 28th Apr 2022
Arbroath TikToker Josh Donaldson has gained a following of over 1.4 million people by posting videos of his river cleans and other nature efforts on the app.
Alongside a following of over a million people, Josh, known as Earthdrop on the app, has received over 9.4 million likes on his river cleaning content.
The 31-year-old's hobby turned internet sensation first started thanks to a walk with his family.
Josh said: "I took my daughter and partner out on a walk and we stumbled upon a lovely little ravine, loads of plants, really really nice. But, there was a lot of rubbish. TV's, skips, all kinds of stuff that had just been thrown off the top of the dam.
"It kind of just sat wrong with me. I'd never done anything like it in my life but I decided to nip down in the car and pick up a few bits. Once I picked up them up I found more and found more and more and it just kept going."
What started as a hobby, became a sensation
Originally, Josh used his account as a mental health support page and after hitting 15,000 followers he was encouraged by his viewers to post his cleaning efforts. He said: "I posted one of the videos and it went nuts."
"One of them hit, I think it's on 20 million views and three and a half million likes, or something like that. That was about the turning point for the TikTok and that's where I mostly started uploading this stuff."
People duet me with them tidying up their own places in like Australia, America and Canada.
Since he started his project over a year ago, Josh feels he's starting to see a difference in a spot near Glamis where he's spent a lot of time cleaning.
He said: "When I first arrived there was very little life there at all. There was nothing in the water. There was very little in the way of birds. Since then, I've up squirrel boxes and there's now red squirrels appearing. There's robins appearing, there's finches appearing, there's frogs and toads and things."
After spending so much time with his cleaning efforts, he told us the most common item found on his river cleans.
Josh said: "Plastic shopping bags and they take just about the longest time to degrade. I've found things under the water that I reckon could've been there since the 70s and they look like they've been put there a month or two ago.
When I first arrived there was very little life there at all. There was nothing in the water . There was very little in the way of birds.
"Plastic bags are primarily the biggest problem because they get caught on anything. I've seen dead fish in them and things like that and it's just the worst thing for aquatic life."
Since Josh started sharing his cleaning efforts on TikTok, he's been blown away as people all across the world have been inspired to do the same. He said: "I take a great deal now from the fact that people duet me with them tidying up their own places in like Australia, America and Canada.
"The fact that these people are tidying up their own places then crediting me with having done it means it wouldn't have been done beforehand. This is what my partner said, she's like you've effectively contributed to cleaning up different parts of the planet from standing in Arbroath which blows my mind."
You can watch more of Josh's videos here.
Our river-clean with Earthdrop
