Last weekend saw Renfrewshire Council’s first Big Spring Clean with more than 1000 volunteers taking part in 31 community clean ups across Renfrewshire. Volunteers, pupils, services and local businesses all worked together to collect just under 500 bags of rubbish and joining with them were your local SNP councillors who took part in clean ups across Renfrewshire.
Litter picks were arranged across the area by schools and community groups, while Renfrewshire Council provided the equipment and were on call to collect rubbish at the end of each event.
Renfrewshire’s Big Spring Clean was created as a part of the SNP administration’s Team Up to Clean Up campaign and the success of this weekend shows the continuing support for the campaign.
Cllr Cathy McEwan, Convener of the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Board stated, “I am thrilled about the success of the Big Spring Clean weekend and the continuing success of the SNP’s Team Up to Clean Up campaign. It was fantastic to see so many people out working together and taking pride in their local areas.”
“Volunteers young and old turned out to work alongside each other to make a real difference to their local area and the event has been a huge success, with a noticeable increase in the cleanliness of all communities after the weekends efforts.”
“Thank you to every volunteer who took part over the weekend. Please continue to harness that community spirit and work with us as we Team Up to Clean Up.”
The SNP budget recently allocated £2.5 million over the next five years, to the Team Up to Clean Up campaign and environmental efforts. Investment over the last year has already seen a programme of increased gully cleaning, mechanical street sweeping, a strengthened Rapid Response Team and additional litter pickers however with increased investment, the SNP will be looking to take this even further.
Cllr Don, Depute Convener of the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Board has stated that she hopes the results of the Big Spring Clean will be maintained in the future.
“Just under 500 bags of rubbish were collected by volunteers and while this is fantastic, I want to get to a stage where this level of litter is non-existent in Renfrewshire.”
“The council has a responsibility to maintain the fantastic work carried out by volunteers over the weekend and the SNP’s increased investment will allow the council to continue to invest in new ways to improve the cleanliness and appearance of our local environment.”
“As local residents however, we also have a responsibility too. We need to discourage the throw away culture which has developed and I hope that the visual presence of a huge number of local residents picking up litter in their area, may make people think twice in the future.
“It was fantastic to see many local businesses getting involved, with some even carrying out litter picks of their own. Education is key to the Team Up to Clean Up campaign; people have to understand that it is not ok to drop litter and the more attention the campaign gets, the more we will be able to get this message across. Thank you again, to everyone who got involved.”
More information on the campaigns initiatives, following the increased investment, will be available in the coming weeks. Although the Big Spring Clean weekend may now be over, the Team Up to Clean Up campaign continues with new litter picks being organised regularly.If you would like to get involved or for more information on the campaign, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/