Eco dad Gary Key, has amassed more than 14,000 empty crisp packets.
The 57-year-old, from East Yorkshire, started keeping the empty packets since 2012 because he felt guilty about sending them to landfill.
Seeing that his family munch their way through 100 bags a week, Gary knew that was a lot of plastic for the environment.
Soon, his crisp-loving partner Joanne Richardson also got on board with the collection.
When she passed away after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Gary vowed to continue his ‘daft hobby’ in her memory.
The keen recycler – whose favourite crisp is Walkers cheese and onion – not only holds on to the packets he finds at home, he also picks up littered ones.
The collection is kept in his shed but is getting so large that he has started to shrink the packets – by grilling them and rolling them up into tiny balls.
Gary admits his habit is unusual but said he finds it comforting to continue a project he started while Joanne was alive.
Gary said: ‘I just carried on what I did, knowing she was never going to get any better.
‘I am still doing what I did when she was alive.
‘Obviously, she’s never going to come back but I carried on and on – that’s my inspiration.
‘I do it for her and it is something to escape my mind. It sorted me out. That’s given me a lifeline because I was collecting them when she was alive.’
The keen recycler’s pursuit aimed to stop foil unnecessarily going to landfill while distracting himself from his partner’s terminal breast cancer.
Joanne passed away aged 43 in October 2012 – just seven months after Gary began collecting empty wrappers.
The couple were civil partners for 17 years when she died.
Gary was left to bring up their four children – Jordan, 24, Ashley, 21, Ryan, 19, and Alisha, 11.
Gary now buys multipack bags of 26-34 packets of crisps from supermarkets, spending on average £5-6 a week on the snack.
The dad used to bundle the packets in groups of 100 with elastic bands.
When he reached 8,000 packets three years ago he tried to sell them and planned to donate the proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Support – but couldn’t find a buyer.
But that didn’t put him off keeping up with his collection.
Now he spends an hour each night grilling approximately 150 packets then rolling them into balls in a process that takes ‘under a minute’ each.
They are then counted and stored in a large container, which is almost full.
Gary added: ‘I have not a clue how long I’m going to keep collecting them. If that’s going to put a smile on someone’s face that’s good for me.’
The environmentally-conscious dad said hundreds of the empty packets had been picked up where others had littered.
On one occasion he was almost slapped with a £60 fine from a warden who thought Gary had dropped the packet – until he explained he was actually picking it up.
East Yorkshire Riding Council was officially crowned the best at recycling for the past three years.
Gary joked: ‘That could be down to me!’
If you’ve amassed a huge collection of something unconventional, email MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk to tell us more.
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