Leithers caught picking up their dog’s poo and binning their litter could receive a reward as part of the latest environmental improvement project put together by Greener Leith.
Dozens of free tickets to the Royal Yacht Britannia, as well as gift vouchers for the A1 Pet Shop, free cream teas at the Haven Cafe and free afternoon teas at Mimi’s Bakehouse are to be handed out to people who do their bit to keep the neighbourhood clean and attractive.
But the prizes won’t be given out in secret. A series of short video clips are also set to be released online with each video featuring a surprised Leither receiving a prize from two members of the local Environmental Warden team, Paul and Kevin.
Greener Leith volunteer Alastair Tibbitt, who came up with the idea for the project said: “Leith keeps coming near the bottom of the city league table for litter but we wanted to do something really positive that celebrates the fact that there are still loads of people in the neighbourhood who show they love Leith by doing simple things like putting their rubbish in a bin or clearing up after their dog.”
“Rather than nagging people who might not always use a bin to change their ways, we hope this project will encourage everyone to think about the positive difference they can make to the great public places we all share in Leith.”
Over the coming weeks local Environmental Wardens will not just be dishing out fixed penalty notices to people who break the law – they’ll also be handing out dozens more rewards in parks and public spaces throughout Leith to people who they “catch” doing good.
Each of the prizes has been donated by a business or charity based in the local area. At the end of the project an online map will be published showing where the rewards were given out, who received them, what they received – and why.
Charlotte Encombe, Chair of Greener Leith said: “This project only works because of the support we’ve received from local businesses as well as the City of Edinburgh Council, so I’d like to thank them for donating all the rewards and backing the idea.
“The project won funding through last year’s Leith Decides event, so we’d also like to thank everyone who voted for Greener Leith to receive the money to deliver this project.
“Partnership is an overused word – but this really is a problem solving partnership between local businesses, the council and we are a charity..
“If there any other organisations in Leith who’d like to donate a gift voucher or two to allow the project to run for a longer period of time, then we’d love to hear from them. It’s probably a much better use of your advertising budget if you want to connect with potential local customers!”
It is hoped that other people will also share the better side of life in Leith using the hashtag #loveleith on social media.
In addition, Greener Leith will organise a series of community clean-up events in the coming months.
What you can do:
1. Always pick up your litter and dog mess. You might get lucky!
2. Share this video on your social media accounts.
3. Sign-up for our weekly email news (if you haven’t already) and join in a community clean-up event.
More info:
The videos will be released on the Greener Leith Youtube Channel under a Creative Commons License.
Leith has been scored as worst ward for Litter in the city in the last two independent cleanliness surveys conducted by Keep Scotland Beautiful.
Who donated what?
Greener Leith is grateful to the following local businesses for supporting this project:
10 pairs of tickets have been donated to the project by the Royal Yacht Britania.
3 x cream teas have been donated to the project by The Haven Cafe.
3 x afternoon teas have been donated to the project by Mimis Bakehouse.
3 x £10 vouchers have been donated to the project by A1 Pets.
If you run a local business and would also like to support this project, then please do get in touch.