An avid environmentalist, she wasn't one to sit by and watch the piling litter find its way into our river or landfill.

She couldn't even begin to count how many discarded cans and bottles she has helped to recycle over the years, but it would be in the millions.

Since the beginning of the year, however, the large recycling bags she takes on her walk - a stretch along the Katherine river - have become harder and harder to fill.

Police Auxilliaries stormed into Katherine bottle shops in February this year in a bid to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence and crime.

While some residents questioned the cost of employing a small army of liquor inspectors to patrol retail outlets, their presence has deemed the volunteer rubbish collector's role redundant.

"For me to come home with barely any rubbish is a good sign for the town," Mrs Duggan said.

She will be hanging up her recycling bags and retiring confident in the state of the town.

"I started noticing less and less rubbish since the bottle shops have been manned," Mrs Duggan said.

"The past couple of months I have just seen such a change as less people have access to alcohol."

Looking back, she recalls widespread litter polluting the banks of the river and broken glass smashed on roads and sidewalks.

"[The Police Auxilliaries] cannot leave, otherwise the town will go back to what it was like just a couple of months ago," Mrs Duggan said.

For longer than most can remember, Mrs Duggan could be seen walking the riverside trail at 6am between the High Level Bridge and the Katherine Hospital, recyclable bags for trash in hand.

Previously, she would fill three to four of them, mostly with alcohol drink containers, but also with plastic food wrappings, bottle caps and plastic bags.

Now, she is "lucky" to come home with a full bag.

"I have been done out of a volunteer job, because there is just not enough rubbish to pick up."

She has seen periods of little discarded litter such as when police were previously monitoring bottle shops and she has seen it return with a vengeance.

Even though Katherine is still known as a "drinking town" she said, there has been a significant decrease in rubbish as of late.

With her pet dogs, Mrs Duggan said she will continue her morning walks, sans bags, but will not ignore rubbish as she passes by.

She has inspired a small community of mindful environmentalists and says she hopes her efforts have sparked awareness in the younger generation.

"The way the world is going, we need to take action. Don't leave your footprint on the earth," she said.

"I hope to never get back to the extreme of before the police auxiliaries were here, it was just disgusting."

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