Litter kit will spruce up community nicely
Keep Scotland Beautiful has handed Erskine Community Garden a litter picking kit to help clean up the community.
The environmental charity is creating 11 litter picking hubs across Scotland by providing free litter picking equipment to support communities to tackle local litter issues.
In Renfrewshire, Erskine Community Garden will receive the kit, which will be available for individuals and groups to borrow, following strict social distancing and safety guidance.
The 11 community groups are the first round of groups to become litter pick hubs in Scotland, with more following in the future.
By creating the hubs, Keep Scotland Beautiful is looking to empower communities who are frustrated by litter worsening during, and following the easing of lockdown.
The funding for these Helping Hands litter kits has been provided by Coca-Cola, and will see kits contain enough litter pickers, gloves, bag hoops and hi-vis vests for up to ten people to take part in a litter pick at a time.
Groups will also be able to access posters and social media content to help encourage people to look after their local places and keep Scotland beautiful.
Since lockdown restrictions have begun to ease, litter has become a more noticeable problem across Scotland.
Keep Scotland Beautiful research shows that 30 per cent of people think that litter has got worse in their local area during lockdown.
These kits will allow locals concerned by the issue in their area to tackle the problem.
Heather McLaughlin, campaigns officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said:“During lockdown, many of us spent time enjoying our local parks and green spaces.
“Lockdown showed us how important these areas are to our health and well-being.
Unfortunately, a minority of people have behaved in an irresponsible and selfish manner, dropping their rubbish, leaving it for others to clean up and spoiling our beautiful country.
“These kits will help people to tackle litter in the areas they care about.
“We encourage anyone who lives near one of these kits to make use of it, particularly between September, 11 and 27 when we are supporting the Great British September Clean following the postponement of our Spring Clean campaign earlier this year due to the pandemic.”
Lisa Foster, sustainable packaging manager at Coca-Cola European Partners, said:“We’re proud to be supporting the campaign for another year.
“The aim isn’t just to get people to pick up litter and look after public places, it’s about changing behaviour for the better, encouraging recycling, instilling a sense of local pride and inspiring future generations.
“Local parks and greenspace are so important to communities across the country, and while this year’s clean-up activity may look different, the message remains the same – our outdoor spaces need to be preserved.”