Little Litter League break litter pick record

Emdad Rahman

THE #littlelitterleague has smashed its litter pick record. Working in partnership with Darul Ummah Goresbrook, they collected a whopping 49 bags of litter during a community litter pick in Dagenham. 

The community group of volunteers beat their own record of 31 bags during a family outdoor activity session to help clean and brighten their own neighbourhood. On one particular stretch of land on Maplehurst Road, the volunteers recovered 20 bags of fly tipping waste, including garden and building materials and plastic as well as the usual soft drink and beer cans, empty alcohol bottles. Team members of the Little Litter League included Liyana Ahmed, 7, and Space Teddy author Mustafa Abidin, both of Manor Junior School.

Speaking after the record was broken, Zoinul Abidin from Darul Ummah Goresbrook commented, “We are very grateful for the positive and kind words from our neighbours. It was really nice to chat to random people whilst we cleaned the streets. We’re so pleased to have broken the League record and our next target is to beat 50 bags!”

Little Litter League team captain Emdad Rahman added, “Litter picking is a positive community activity and aside from ensuring a clean neighbourhood, it promotes unity, inclusion and goodwill, whilst raising the aspirations of the local residents. What a fantastic team effort today – this will inspire others to do the same in their own communities.”

●The Government has brought together a Chewing Gun Task Force to clean up streets. The scheme will see chewing gum producers – including Mars Wrigley, GlaxoSmithKline and Perfetti Van Melle, managed by charity Keep Britain Tidy – invest up to £10 million over the next five years to help reduce gum litter. The investment will be used to clean up historic gum litter staining and use behavioural interventions to encourage people to bin their gum.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said, “The stains of discarded chewing gum are a blight on our communities, spoiling our streets and wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. This new scheme means chewing gum producers are not only helping to clean up towns and cities as they welcome people back to our high streets, but crucially taking action to prevent people littering in the first place.

“We are committed to building back better and greener and this commitment to making town centres a more attractive and inviting place is a key part of our long-term strategy to breathe new life into our communities.”

●Read more about it:
Litter picking debut for Darul Ummah volunteers
Active Musa tells us off for littering

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