Remember to bin your litter
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park has teamed up with Keep Scotland Beautiful to support their roadside litter campaign by using messages on bins and lampposts at key visitor sites.
Litter levels in Scotland are at their worst in a decade with 82 per cent of motorways and A-road verges recording a presence of litter in 2016-17.
The park attracts more than four million visitors every year and has some of Scotland’s busiest major roads passing through it.
Unfortunately it says this can lead to increased levels of litter being dumped on some of the most scenic routes in the country, spoiling the spectacular landscape and views and proving costly to clear up.
Bosses say the only real solution is for those responsible to change their bad habits and dispose of their rubbish responsibly when on the road, holding on to it in the vehicle until they find a suitable bin.
‘Give your litter a lift’ messages have been placed on bins and lampposts at key locations throughout the park where visitors often stop to pick up something to eat or drink or enjoy a picnic along their journey.
Park’s director of conservation and visitor operations Simon Jones said: “Litter doesn’t just ruin a great view, it can be harmful to people and wildlife. Roadside litter is particularly disappointing to see, especially for those who do dispose of their litter responsibly and arrive or stop at popular locations to take in the view and are confronted with someone else’s discarded waste.
“As the National Park Authority, we aren’t responsible for collecting all litter in the Park but we are working to tackle this issue across the area as best we can.
“We are doing this by trialling different approaches to managing litter on our own sites, by working in collaboration with our partners, other landowners and communities through initiatives like community clean-ups and by taking part in campaigns such as this one to spread the message that everyone can play their part in preventing litter from spoiling this beautiful area. The solution is simple, if there are no bins, or bins are full, take your litter home with you.”
Georgina Massouraki, roadside litter campaign officer at KSB, said: “This initiative comes amidst our national Week of Action, which has seen hundreds of schools, communities, businesses and other partners take action to send the message that littering in Scotland is not acceptable. With 88 per cent of people agreeing that roadside litter creates a negative impression of Scotland it is time we all do our part to address this unnecessary blight.”
More details at www. keepscotlandbeautiful.org/roadsidelitter-campaign,