Tag: litter pick

Pencaitland’s 2014 Litter Pick starts 2pm on 11th May

As with previous years the action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council. We’re particularly keen to have groups or families who want to cover Glenkinchie or New Winton this year.

Pencaitland’s regular community Litter Pick is set to take place on Sunday the 11th May from 2pm.

As with previous years the action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council. We’re particularly keen to have groups or families who want to cover Glenkinchie or New Winton this year.

This year's free prize draw, open to all under-16s taking part in the Litter Pick, is a Samsung ST72 16MP camera with 8GB card included.
This year’s free prize draw, open to all under-16s taking part in the Litter Pick, is a Samsung ST72 16MP camera with 8GB card included.
Then, once your area has been covered, pop on back to Trevelyan Hall with your haul of flotsam and jetsam where there will be refreshments and the opportunity for anyone under 16 to participate in our free Prize Draw for a fabulous compact Digital Camera. This year it’s a Samsung ST72 digital camera and it comes with an 8GB memory card so you’re ready to go.

For 2014’s Litter Pick we are working with Clean Up Scotland, part of the charity Keep Scotland Beautiful. We’ll also be handing out tabards to make everyone stand out as they seek out the oddest item of rubbish.

Last year we had a great selection of litter oddities including a truck mud guard, four car hubs, signs, clothes, shoes and many many cans, bottles and crisp packets. Let’s see if we can find even more unusual stuff this time round.

At the 2013 event more than 50 people came along and helped make the Litter Pick a great success. This year we want to beat 2013’s numbers, so make a date in your diary and come help make your community a place we can all be proud of…

Bring your Camera

If you have a camera please grab some photos during your Litter Pick and email them to us at website@pencaitland.org where we will then feature them on the website.

Some snaps from last year’s event



Great turnout at Pencaitland’s Litter Pick doubles volume of junk

It was touch & go but in the end the Sun shone down on Pencaitland’s army of litter pickers who scoured the streets & pathways for a record rubbish haul.

It was touch & go but in the end the Sun shone down on Pencaitland’s army of litter pickers who scoured the streets & pathways for a record rubbish haul.

Just some of the kids who helped make the 2013 Litter Pick a success with the pile of litter collected continuing to swell throughout a fine sunny afternoon. Click the photo for more pictures.
Just some of the kids who helped make the 2013 Litter Pick a success with the pile of litter collected continuing to swell throughout a fine sunny afternoon. Click the photo for more pictures.
With the recent hard to predict weather we have been encountering it was anyone’s guess as to how many would choose to venture out to spend a few hours helping clean up their community. In the end any doubts were quickly dispelled when around 60 kids turned up, either with family or with one of a number of community groups, including Cubs, Beavers, Rainbows, Pencaitland Youth Football Club and Guides. Then there was a strong cohort of parents and other adults along to help out making it a community-wide affair, covering all ages and backgrounds.

The Community Council would like to say a huge thank you to all those who took part in today’s event. In addition to the usual well-trodden routes, with such a good turnout we were able to cover far more ground which resulted in a significant increase in the amount finally collected. It’s estimated that the volume of litter bagged is around double the amount retrieved at last year’s event.

Many thanks also to Pencaitland Primary for putting together some fantastic posters publicising the event.

Amongst the flotsam found:

  • Two Wooly hats
  • Three single gloves
  • Three wellies
  • Four car hubs
  • Many many plastic and glass bottles and aluminium cans.
  • A pair of jeans
  • Underpants
  • A hoodie
  • A truck mud guard

You can see photos from today’s event below. Anyone wishing to have an original copy should email website@pencaitland.org

Pencaitland Litter Pick 2013 Countdown: Day 2 — What cost litter?

Did you know that local authorities spend £100 million every year cleaning up after us? Every bit of litter not put in a bin is a cost to everyone.

Did you know that local authorities spend £100 million every year cleaning up after us? Every bit of litter not put in a bin is a cost to everyone.

Just turn up at 2pm to Trevelyan Hall, get your raffle ticket, bag & a picker & you're ready to roll... Click the photo above for full details.
Just turn up at 2pm to Trevelyan Hall, get your raffle ticket, bag & a picker & you’re ready to roll… Click the photo above for full details.
You might not think it when you see it but there are financial consequences to litter. Tourism is worth over £4bn a year to Scotland with over 90% of tourists citing scenery as the main reason for their visit – every tourist who won’t come back because of litter and mess basically costs us all money. We get our own share of tourists in this part of the world taking part in the whisky trail to Glenkinchie.

Householders and land owners spend huge sums clearing mess from their own properties. And local authorities spend £100m of your money on street cleansing every year.

But small actions can make a big difference, and save us millions. Concern about this goes right to the top of Government. Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs, says, “action must be taken now against Scotland’s litter problem. It is a poor advertisement for our country, which should instead be recognised for its clean air and unspoilt landscapes.” Together we can make a difference.

Come to your Litter Pick

As with past years the Litter Pick action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council.

Why a Litter Pick?

Scotland has a litter problem. Take a look the next time you walk outside and you’ll be hard pushed to miss it. Cigarette butts, takeaway wrappers, crisp bags, cans and cartons, newspapers, ATM slips, chewing gum. You name it, and it’s on our streets and motorways, in our parks and our lochs, up our mountains, on our beaches and on your doorstep!

Our local Council does a pretty good job keeping on top of the bulk of our rubbish but the fact is that if we want to live in an attractive village it’s down to all of us to keep it that way. We can’t always rely on someone else to come along and clean up the mess for us. If each of us picks up just one item of rubbish blowing around our streets each day, it will help keep on top of a perennial problem.


Pencaitland Litter Pick 2013 Countdown: Day 3 — Dog Fouling

We are fortunate in Pencaitland in generally having responsible pet owners who clear up after their dogs, meaning that dog fouling is an occasional issue.

We are fortunate in Pencaitland in generally having responsible pet owners who clear up after their dogs.

Clean Up Scotland & the Dogs Trust work together to promote Poop Scoop Week later this year.
Clean Up Scotland & the Dogs Trust work together to promote Poop Scoop Week later this year.
However, sometimes doggy deposits do make it onto our local pavements and paths. Owners can get free poop scoop bags from the local Post Office and then pop it into one of the public bins.

It’s a dog’s life

There are between 6.5 and 7.4 million dogs in the UK, producing a hard-to-believe 1,000 tonnes of poo per day. It has been estimated that, in a ten year life span, the average dog produces a half tonne of waste!

In recent research into public attitudes to littering carried out by Keep Scotland Beautiful, 69 percent of people rated dog fouling as the item on our streets, parks and beaches that bothered them most, with 13 percent of the people blaming dog owners for the problem.

The Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force in 2003 which empowers police officers and authorised local authority officers to issue fixed penalty notices. A Fixed Penalty Fine for not picking up after a dog starts at £40, rising to £60. If the fine is not paid, owners can be convicted and end up paying up to £500. Probably not worth it for the cost of a free poop scoop bag from the Post Office!

The Dogs Trust and Keep Scotland Beautiful jointly promote National Poop Scoop Week throughout Scotland each summer.

As ever, East Lothian Council has its own small team of Dog Wardens with plenty of information to be found here.

Come to your Litter Pick

As with past years the Litter Pick action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council.

Why a Litter Pick?

Scotland has a litter problem. Take a look the next time you walk outside and you’ll be hard pushed to miss it. Cigarette butts, takeaway wrappers, crisp bags, cans and cartons, newspapers, ATM slips, chewing gum. You name it, and it’s on our streets and motorways, in our parks and our lochs, up our mountains, on our beaches and on your doorstep!

Our local Council does a pretty good job keeping on top of the bulk of our rubbish but the fact is that if we want to live in an attractive village it’s down to all of us to keep it that way. We can’t always rely on someone else to come along and clean up the mess for us. If each of us picks up just one item of rubbish blowing around our streets each day, it will help keep on top of a perennial problem.


Pencaitland Litter Pick 2013 Countdown: Day 4 — Fly Tipping

In the run up to Sunday we’re counting down to Pencaitland’s Annual Litter Pick with trash related factoids — Fly Tipping. Please come & be a part of the pick!

In the run up to Sunday we’re counting down to Pencaitland’s Annual Litter Pick with trash related factoids. Please come & be a part of the pick!

The stuff that nearly made it. Does it ever strike you as odd that so much rubbish seems to congregate around litter bins.. but not in them? Here's our very own example in Pencaitland!
The stuff that nearly made it. Does it ever strike you as odd that so much rubbish seems to congregate around litter bins.. but not in them? Here’s our very own example in Pencaitland!
Did you know that it’s not just litter, dog fouling, graffiti, flytipping and flyposting, abandoned vehicles and other examples that people inflict upon our country. More than 62,000 incidences of flytipping – that’s dumping things like washing machines and sofas on our landscapes – were reported to local authorities last year. And it is estimated that around 5,000 cars are abandoned every year.

So far we’ve not found a car but there have been instances of fly-tipping on parts of the Pencaitland railway walk in the recent past. You can report fly tipping directly to East Lothian Council.

Come to your Litter Pick

As with past years the Litter Pick action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council.

Why a Litter Pick?

Scotland has a litter problem. Take a look the next time you walk outside and you’ll be hard pushed to miss it. Cigarette butts, takeaway wrappers, crisp bags, cans and cartons, newspapers, ATM slips, chewing gum. You name it, and it’s on our streets and motorways, in our parks and our lochs, up our mountains, on our beaches and on your doorstep!

Our local Council does a pretty good job keeping on top of the bulk of our rubbish but the fact is that if we want to live in an attractive village it’s down to all of us to keep it that way. We can’t always rely on someone else to come along and clean up the mess for us. If each of us picks up just one item of rubbish blowing around our streets each day, it will help keep on top of a perennial problem.


Pencaitland Litter Pick 2013 Countdown: Day 5

Each day until Sunday we’re counting down to Pencaitland’s Annual Litter Pick with an interesting trash factoid. Please come & be a part of the pick!

Each day until Sunday we’re counting down to Pencaitland’s Annual Litter Pick with an interesting trash factoid. Please come & be a part of the pick!

A stray drinks can on a riverside footpath to Winton House. Click to get details on Sunday's Litter Pick.
A stray drinks can on a riverside footpath to Winton House. Click to get details on Sunday’s Litter Pick.
A national recording programme found litter in 80% of the sites it visited. Worse still, it found cigarette butts on 70% of the streets it visited. Did you know that each one takes 12 long years to decompose?

Come to your Litter Pick

As with past years the Litter Pick action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council.

Why a Litter Pick?

Scotland has a litter problem. Take a look the next time you walk outside and you’ll be hard pushed to miss it. Cigarette butts, takeaway wrappers, crisp bags, cans and cartons, newspapers, ATM slips, chewing gum. You name it, and it’s on our streets and motorways, in our parks and our lochs, up our mountains, on our beaches and on your doorstep!

Our local Council does a pretty good job keeping on top of the bulk of our rubbish but the fact is that if we want to live in an attractive village it’s down to all of us to keep it that way. We can’t always rely on someone else to come along and clean up the mess for us. If each of us picks up just one item of rubbish blowing around our streets each day, it will help keep on top of a perennial problem.


Pencaitland Litter Pick takes place Sunday 21st April

Pencaitland Community’s Annual Litter Pick is set for this coming Sunday the 21st. Come and spend an hour or two making your area beautiful, chat with fellow pickers, enjoy some refreshments and for anyone 16 and under, enter the prize draw for a digital camera.

Pencaitland Community’s annual Litter Pick is set for this coming Sunday. Come and spend an hour or two making your area beautiful.

A stray Snickers wrapper caught in the wire fencing in Wester Pencaitland. Come along on Sunday and help make your village a little more litter free. LOCATION: Trevelyan Hall TIME: 2pm + Refreshments & prize draw.
A stray Snickers wrapper caught in the wire fencing in Wester Pencaitland. Come along on Sunday and help make your village a little more litter free. LOCATION: Trevelyan Hall TIME: 2pm + Refreshments & prize draw. Click the photo for more information.
As with past years the action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council. We’re particularly keen to have groups or families who want to cover Glenkinchie or New Winton this year.

Then, once your area has been covered, pop on back to Trevelyan Hall with your haul of flotsam and jetsam where there will be refreshments and the opportunity for anyone under 16 to participate in our free Prize Draw for a fabulous compact Digital Camera. This year it’s a Nikon L25 and it comes with a memory card and case too.

Bring your Camera

If you have a camera please grab some photos during your Litter Pick and email them to us at website@pencaitland.org where we will then feature them on the website.


Pencaitland’s 2013 Litter Pick set for 21st April from 2pm

Pencaitland’s regular community Litter Pick is set to take place Sunday the 21st of April from 2pm. Come along, enjoy refreshments & win a digital camera.

Pencaitland’s regular community Litter Pick is set to take place on Sunday the 21st of April from 2pm.

Pencaitland's Litter Pick-up 2012
Click the photo to see snaps from last year’s event.
As with past years the action kicks off from 2pm in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall. Groups or families turning up will be given litter pickers and bags before heading off to various parts of, not only Pencaitland, but hopefully some of the other areas covered by the Community Council. We’re particularly keen to have groups or families who want to cover Glenkinchie or New Winton this year.

Then, once your area has been covered, pop on back to Trevelyan Hall with your haul of flotsam and jetsam where there will be refreshments and the opportunity for anyone under 16 to participate in our free Prize Draw for a fabulous compact Digital Camera. This year it’s a Nikon L25 and it comes with a memory card and case too.

For 2013’s Litter Pick we are working with Clean Up Scotland, part of the charity Keep Scotland Beautiful. With the nearest Greggs’ support, Clean Up Scotland will be providing goodies for all those taking part. We’ll also be handing out bright yellow tabards to make everyone stand out as they seek out the strangest item of rubbish.

This year's free prize draw, open to all under-16s taking part in the Litter Pick, is a Nikon L25 with memory card and case.
This year’s free prize draw, open to all under-16s taking part in the Litter Pick, is a Nikon L25 with memory card and case.
Last year we had a great selection including a rugby ball, a car bonnet and the Spar’s old shop sign blown away in a storm. Let’s see if we can find even more unusual stuff this time round.

At the 2012 event more than 50 people came along and helped make the Litter Pick a great success. This year we want to beat 2012’s numbers, so make a date in your diary and come make your community a place you can be proud of…

Bring your Camera

If you have a camera please grab some photos during your Litter Pick and email them to us at website@pencaitland.org where we will then feature them on the website.