Volunteer Litter Picking

Volunteering to keep our communities clean and tidy is a wonderful contribution to helping South Ayrshire continue to be a great place to live and work. If you've noticed somewhere in your local community that would benefit from a little extra attention, a litter pick is your chance to make a difference.

We can support litter picking by providing litter-picking equipment, including litter pickers and bags and by collecting and disposing of bags from litter picking activities.

Volunteer Litter Picking Registration Form

It is important that if you are carrying out litter picking activities that you read and adhere to the following guidance

• Please DO NOT litter pick on any roads where the speed limit is over 30mph unless there is a designated footpath
• Please DO NOT litter pick any national speed limit or A-class roads
• Please DO NOT do anything that is likely to endanger yourself or others, including litter picking close to a busy road or in bad weather when visibility is poor or icy under foot.
• Please DO NOT touch anything that may be dangerous, including needles or syringes, human waste, animal waste, blood, batteries, miscellaneous substances or anything that is suspected to contain asbestos. Contact the Council immediately for advice.
• Please DO NOT litter pick in or near rivers, ponds etc.
• Please DO NOT litter pick at height that involves climbing of grass bankings etc.
• Please DO NOT sort through waste materials inside bags or bins and be aware of protruding objects.
• Please DO NOT overfill bags so they become too heavy to comfortably handle.
• Please DO NOT attempt to deal with aggressive or difficult people. Do not confront anyone littering.
• Please DO wear appropriate/suitable clothing for weather conditions.
• Please DO be vigilant at all times of your surroundings and maintain a good level of risk assessment.
• Please DO use the litter pickers provided and follow good hygiene practices - only handle litter using the litter picker.
• Please DO cover up in the sun. Use sunscreen and take water to keep hydrated in warm weather.
• Please DO consider carrying some basic first aid provision including sanitising gel.
• Please DO take extreme care when crossing roads.
• Please DO be aware of low-lying branches and exposed tree and shrub roots.
• Please DO be aware of uneven surfaces including ramps and steps (slips, trips and falls).
• Please DO beware of dangerous plants and possible adverse reactions.

When you have full litter bags that require collecting, please follow the below steps:

• Leave the bags beside any council bin and they will be collected by our waste management team on their rounds.
• If there are no council bins located in the area of the litter pick then please email neighbourhood_services@south-ayrshire.gov.uk with the location and collection will be arranged.
• To request more litter bags please contact neighbourhood_services@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful and Litter Lotto

South Ayrshire Council has partnered with LitterLotto and environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, to help combat the growing issue of litter in our communities.

The Council is the first in Scotland to join forces with the charity and the behavioural change app.

LitterLotto is a free to enter prize draw that aims to help reduce litter through behavioural change, incentivising people to bin their litter responsibly.

This means that residents across South Ayrshire will be able to sign up to win rewards and cash prizes for binning litter

To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is download the free LitterLotto app on your smartphone or device, be on litter-alert when you're out and about and use the app to take a picture of litter as you place it in the bin.  Each time you submit a new photo, you'll have another opportunity to win a prize.

You can download the LitterLotto app now for free on App and Android Stores.

For more information, please visit litterlotto.com