West Lothian Litter Pickers in association with West Lothian Council have launched a new anti-littering campaign with signage going up all around West Lothian.
The signs read ‘Don’t chuck it, put it in a bucket’, and hopes to ward off locals and visitors from dropping litter in West Lothian streets.
Around £1000 was paid on the new signage, with no guarantee it’ll stop littering in the area - the litter pickers are prepared nonetheless to continue their community work.
The West Lothian Litter Pickers were founded by Jason Wilcox from Bathgate in March of 2019.
They are kept running through sponsors like Spar, Cala homes, and other local sponsors, with funds going towards paying for volunteers litter pickers, hi-vis vests, and bin hoops.
Spare funds after volunteers have been kitted out go towards things like signage discouraging people from littering in the community.
The litter pickers work closely with other community organisations like Keep Scotland Beautiful and The Woodland Trust.
In a new campaign supporting The Woodland Trust, West Lothian Litter Pickers have challenged as many of it’s 3200 as possible to fill one bag of rubbish from a woodland area.
The campaign follows reports from The Woodland Trust that there has been an unprecedented surge in litter and flytipping in woodland areas they protect.
The Woodland Trust protects woodland sites all over West Lothian, including: 13 sites in Livingston, one in Stoneyburn, one in east Whitburn, and one in West Calder.
An active member of West Lothian Litter Pickers, Jim Allan, spoke about the new anti-litter campaign, he said: “The signs just went up at the weekend as a trial.
“They might work, but a big problem with litterers is their complete disregard for the community - just last week I was cycling behind a car in Bonnyrigg when they chucked rubbish out of her window right in front of me!
“Walking through Bathgate it’s clear that some people just have no respect for their surroundings, the roads are littered with rubbish from fast food places.
“Between ourselves and the council we do a good job keeping the streets clean - the council are top notch as far as I’m concerned, whenever you report litter or fly tipping it’s usually away within 48 hours.”
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