Visitors urged to take rubbish home as part of campaign to tackle litter at community parks and green spaces

Signage and banners urging visitors to please take their rubbish home or dispose of it in an appropriate way are now on display at a number of community parks and green spaces across Leeds.

Undertaken by Leeds City Council, the new campaign is in response to a significant rise in litter and rubbish seen across a number of the city’s 63 community parks in the past year. With parks and green spaces remaining open during all of the restrictions put in place to tackle coronavirus since March 2020, visitor numbers have increased significantly. With a number of coronavirus restrictions now relaxed and more proposed to follow in the next few months, the council is keen that this trend in increased littering does not continue, especially with summer now just round the corner. Various spells of recent good weather recently have already resulted in high levels of rubbish being left at a number of community parks and green spaces across the city. The council is again asking that visitors please bring bags with them to take their rubbish home or dispose of their rubbish in an appropriate and sensible manner. This will protect not only the parks but also animals and wildlife.

A similar stop littering campaign undertaken by the council in conjunction with Keep Britain Tidy was very well received last summer, and the council is hoping for similar success this year. The campaign is promoting the message that whilst enjoying the parks on offer and their many benefits in terms of both mental and physical health, visitors should always respect the green spaces.

Councillor Denise Ragan, Leeds City Council’s lead member for environment and active lifestyles, said:

“We are very proud of our parks and green spaces, which have been so important to people of all ages over the last year. Unfortunately we have seen a rise in litter along with increased visitor numbers to our parks across the city.

“This is the reason why we have started a campaign at a number of our parks to urge people to please take their rubbish home or dispose of it appropriately. I cannot emphasise enough how important this message is to keep our parks and green spaces looking fantastic and protect the wellbeing of animals and wildlife.

“The scenes we’ve seen at some parks, and the sheer volume of litter that has been left on these green spaces, is completely unacceptable. We need every single visitor to our community parks and green spaces to show personal responsibility and take their litter home or dispose of it acceptably. If you are planning to stay a while and bring food or drink or any other disposable items, please bring bags with you.

“I hope this campaign will help spread this vital message, especially as we approach the busy summer months.”