Irvine community collects 15 bags of litter | Keep Scotland Beautiful Skip to main content
 

Irvine community collects 15 bags of litter

22 January 2025

We joined members of the Irvine Clean Up Crew on Saturday 18 January to survey and remove litter from the banks of the river.

The event was part of our award-winning Upstream Battle® campaign to stop litter’s journey from source to sea and 11 volunteers collected 15 bags of litter – preventing it from becoming marine litter.

Alongside the usual littered items such as food containers, confectionary wrappers and plastic bottles there were also some unusual finds along the way including a bicycle frame, car tire and multiple cotton bud sticks.

Emma Glencross, our Senior Campaigns Officer, said: “We are currently facing a litter emergency in Scotland. By taking small steps and playing our part, we can help prevent litter entering our rivers and seas where it can harm wildlife and destroy habitats.

“I would like to thank everyone who braved the cold and joined this clean up event – the first of many this year. Their efforts to keep Scotland beautiful are inspiring, and I’d encourage everyone to get involved and make a difference – either by doing a litter survey or joining a clean-up event.”

Jennifer Pless, Chair of Irvine Clean Up Crew, added: “Our volunteers have been tackling the litter problem on the River Irvine for several years, but we also recognise that the issue won't be fixed just with litter picking.

“It needs everyone who lives in the river's catchment area to understand their connection to the river and how their own actions can impact on its health. As a small volunteer-run community group we can't tackle this by ourselves so we are really pleased to have the support of Keep Scotland Beautiful to help create a strategy that will hopefully inform a long-term solution for the river."

If you want to support work to reduce litter in and around Irvine, preventing litter entering the sea, you could:

  • Complete a litter survey along the Irvine River.
  • Participate in a local litter pick. (We'll be organising more litter picking events on the Irvine riverside in February so keep an eye on out for more details.)

Our award-winning Upstream Battle campaign is funded by The Scottish Government's Marine Fund Scotland.

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