Show the love for a litter-free Leeds

With Valentine’s Day approaching Leeds residents are being asked to the show the love for their city by taking part in a new clean-up campaign.

Various teams and individuals across Leeds City Council are already taking part in the #1pieceofrubbish campaign, and anyone living or working in Leeds can join in.

Started by Leeds-born Ed Platt, the #1pieceofrubbish campaign simply asks people to show they love their city by picking up one piece of litter every day and binning it.

People can show their support for the campaign by taking a photo of themselves binning that litter and posting it on Twitter or Instragram using #1pieceofrubbish.

The idea for the campaign came to Ed while living in Leeds and it came to life when he moved to Marseille. Ed said:

“It’s true that you can take the boy out of Leeds, but you can’t take Leeds out of the boy.

“The idea was born in Roundhay Park last August when I picked up a can and posted on Instagram and Facebook with the comment ‘my new habit is to pick up one piece of rubbish per day’. Voila, #1pieceofrubbish was born.

“In Marseille 4,500 people pick up every day and post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and some have started tagging friends like the ice-bucket challenge.

“Like Leeds they all want to live in a cleaner street, cleaner city, cleaner future.”

Councillor Fiona Venner, lead member for sustainable communities, said:

“We spend millions each year keeping Leeds clean by providing an effective and efficient street cleaning service based on zones covering the whole city that the crews know inside out. It’s not just about the council picking up litter or emptying bins though.

“We’re looking to do more with individuals, communities and businesses to prevent litter in the first place. We’re supporting the #1pieceofrubbish campaign by encouraging everyone to pick up one item of litter each day and bin it.

“A combination of our services and people playing their part will go a long way to making Leeds cleaner.”

Follow @Clean_Leeds for updates on all of the environmental action services the council provides and #1pieceofrubbish.