One million pieces of litter picked up by volunteers
A volunteer group dedicated to removing rubbish bagged a staggering one million pieces of litter in just under a year.
South Ayrshire Clean-Up Campaign (SACC) reached its year-long target with a group litter pick by Ballantrae.
Campaign founder and volunteer, Christopher Johnson of Prestwick, said: “There is an amazing sense of achievement in reaching the million-piece milestone.
“There has been incredible community spirit in tackling a collective goal that has bought many different groups and individuals together.”
The campaign, which brings together individuals and litterpicking communities, was established on January 25 last year and has more than 400 followers on social media.
In total, 1657 separate picks were recorded, with an average of 608 pieces removed each time.
If all the sacks of litter were piled on top of each other they would be almost twice as high as Ben Nevis, or eight times the height of the Eiffel Tower.
Volunteers in Troon removed a new piece of litter every two minutes. In Maybole, volunteers removed 25 pieces of litter for every resident, while 100 pieces of litter a day were removed from a single park in Prestwick.
They have received support from South Ayrshire Council’s neighbourhood services team, who’ve provided equipment, arranged special collections of group picks, and even supported enforcement action following leads from volunteers.
The campaign has been backed by Friends of Troon Beaches, Don’t Trash Ayr, Maybole Community Clean Up and TAG Girvan.
Christopher added: “During 2021, a volunteer removed a piece of litter from South Ayrshire every 30 seconds.
“This cannot be taken for granted, and is simply unsustainable.”