Rubbish Roundup 19th October

Rubbish Roundup 19^th October

We start this roundup in Leeds, where litter picking heroes have reached a milestone of 10,000 bags of rubbish collected during their weekly clean ups.

The litter picking group, Litter Free Guiseley racked up the impressive total over 17 years of cleaning up their community.

The group started in 2003, and volunteers would collect around 10 bags per month on average, but now the group has grown to over 30 members who collect an impressive 100 bags per month on their Sunday morning litter picks.

The volunteers were instrumental in setting up a litter picking volunteers network back in 2017, Litter Free Leeds, which brought people together to tackle litter and fly tipping right across the city.

Litter Free Guiseley loan their litter picking equipment to other groups including children and their families who want to get involved in tidying up their local area.

A local councillor praised the group’s efforts and said the volunteers were making local communities better for everyone. He added that the group has made amazing progress in 17 years and recognised that picking litter from the city’s parks, streets, and woodland was not easy to do.

If you live in the Leeds area and you’d like to find more about the group, you can visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LitterFreeGuiseley/

Next to Newport, where more than 80 new litter bins have been installed in a bid to reduce litter levels across the city. The bins were introduced at locations that were decided after a consultation with local litter picking groups, the public, and the council’s street cleansing teams.

In a statement, the council said that some of the new bins have replaced smaller post-mounted bins to provide more capacity for rubbish and avoid overspilling which previously happened regularly, despite the bins being emptied often. The smaller bins will now be reinstalled in other locations in the city.

The council added that it’s urging the public to use the bins responsibly and not use them for household waste.

And finally to Edinburgh, where a team at the Western General Hospital has been the first to receive litter picking kits to help them keep their local area clean.

It’s part of a new drive to create 20 litter picking hubs in Scotland, and the environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is providing them all with free equipment. So far, 11 hubs have been created with the intent of empowering and inspiring communities to deal with their own litter problems, many of which worsened during lockdown.

The Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful said that though many of us enjoyed spending time in parks and green spaces during lockdown, a small minority left litter behind and spoiled them for others. He added that by using the litter hubs, people will be able to take the lead in looking after the areas they live in.

The funding for the litter picking equipment has been provided by Zero Waste Scotland. The equipment is provided in a ‘Helping Hands’ kit which contains 10 litter pickers, gloves, bag hoops, and hi vis vests which will allow individuals or two households to take part in a litter pick.

The groups that are set up in the community will be able to download posters and social media content to encourage others to join in the fight against litter.

The Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland said that litter is not only a blight on communities, but valuable materials are also wasted that could be recycled into new items.

He added that lockdown showed us how valuable our outside spaces are and why they need to be kept safe and clean for everyone to enjoy.

If you live in Scotland and you’d like to find a litter hub near you, you can find the details here.