A new Easter themed initiative has been launched in Sleaford and surrounding areas to tackle littering.
‘Eighty for Easter’ has been set up by Ruskington resident, Roberta Bray, 46, who aims to raise awareness of littering in her area.
Roberta posted the challenge on Facebook, asking for 80 people to join in, spending no longer than 80 minutes in total to collect 80 pieces of litter.
She said: “I went out around two weeks ago and just did a really short space outside Ruskington. It was just me on my own, it was so frustrating.
“I thought – Easter’s coming up, what can we do? Let’s see, if we get 80 people to pick up 80 pieces of rubbish, what sort of impact would that make?”
Roberta aims to make the challenge as accessible as possible, saying: “It’s not making people come out at a certain time for a certain length of time. You can even do it on your own.
“Let’s see if we can get as many people as possible, 80 ideally, and that all adds up to quite a lot of litter.”
Lincolnsnhire resident Alfie Artist, 21, expressed his appreciation for the challenge: “It’s something simple that anyone can get involved with. I just think if you see some litter while you’re out and about, you might as well do your bit.”
North Kesteven District Council leader Richard Wright is supporting the initiative. He said: “The local authorities do a good job of keeping on top of the rubbish, it’s just a pity that we have people that don’t appreciate their local environment.
“It’s appalling that people think that it’s a good idea to just chuck their rubbish down on the floor.”
He added: “We’re really grateful that we have these volunteer litter groups. They do a fantastic job of looking after their own villages.
“It just hacks me off that people think they can throw their rubbish about. Ruskington is not covered in rubbish don’t get me wrong, but people seem to think it’s okay to chuck it out their car windows.
“I’m a firm believer that we should have car registration stamped on things like fast food cartons. If they go to a drive through then there should be a way of marking it, because that’s half of the litter that we find scattered about.”
You can find out more about ‘Eighty for Easter’ here.
