Ullapool Sea Savers tackle lay-by litter menace and invite others to join campaign
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
ECO-minded youngsters have urged the public to take their rubbish home with them after removing another 15.5kg of waste during a lay-by litter-pick.
Ullapool Sea Savers have been carrying out regular clean-ups since February.
Although the Covid-19 lockdown forced them to put some of their clean-up sessions on hold, they have still managed to remove more than 90kg of rubbish from the environment so far.
“We’d love it if others started doing lay-by litter-picks too and posted online so we can show the kids that others are listening and trying to look after the environment and nature.”
And with so much waste being picked up – and evidence that a growing number of irresponsible visitors are using lay-bys as toilets during the pandemic – they have made a plea to the public to show the environment more respect.
“It’s something we started at the beginning of the year but had to put on hold due to Covid,” said a spokesman for the group. “The intention was to track where the litter we found on beach cleans came from and one of the places was lay-bys overlooking the sea.
“With what is happening now with the NC500 and staycations, it has become a bigger issue. One problem we are seeing is the rise in cases of people using lay-bys as toilets, which makes it unsafe for us to clean up.”
The group is now hoping that their message will not only encourage people to either bin their rubbish or take it home, but also inspire others to follow their litter-picking ways.
“Please join in and help clean the rubbish from our roadside before it gets in our waterways and seas,” they added. “We’d love it if others started doing lay-by litter-picks too and posted online so we can show the kids that others are listening and trying to look after the environment and nature.”
To help them in their endeavours, the grateful group recently secured a grant from the North Highland Initiative to get some PPE to help keep them safe from Covid-19 during their clean-ups. The grant also helped pay for a “Children at Work” road sign to alert passing motorists of their presence in lay-bys.
Related: Campaigners get apology for rubbish behaviour of fishing vessel
Wester Ross kids clean up Holyrood
Ullapool Sea Savers' 'prawn party' a hit in village
