WLLP members picking litter
We even found a car door!
A litter-free Kirkton Park, Bathgate thanks to WLLP 8 | LIVINGSTON
It sounds simple – a Facebook group of people who want to keep West Lothian looking beautiful, clean and safe by picking up litter. But, as I discovered when I spoke to the founder of the West Lothian Litter Pickers (WLLP), it’s become much more than that. Bathgate resident Jason Wilcox, who set the group up two years ago, described for me the journey and the behind-the-scenes operation. “Collectively, we’re pulling 10,000kg of rubbish out of the environment every month. A lot is legacy litter - it’s been there for a very long time. And then there is fly-tipping and the never-ending task of picking up freshly-dropped litter.” There are now almost 2000 people involved in the group, many of them active in regularly picking up litter, and it’s growing into Jason’s original aspiration – to have spin-off groups in every village and town throughout West Lothian, each looking after their own patch. Active members are issued with a litter picker and hoop. Some people are picking up litter in their spare time, on a lunch break, with their kids or on a daily walk. There are also organised meet-ups. “For the organised meets, we focus on problem areas, and ones that are not regularly covered by West Lothian Council,” explains Jason. The event is published on the Facebook group along with instructions on where to safely park. A safety brief is given, and high vis vests and equipment are issued for those who need it. The arrangement with West Lothian Council is that once pickers have collected their bag/s of litter, they leave them next to a bin and email a dedicated inbox at the Council, who then collect within 24 hours. The Council also supplies bags, and has provided a number of hoops and pickers to the group. To get to this stage though has required huge effort and organisation, on the part of Jason initially, then the board who joined him. To bootstrap it, Jason invested in some equipment himself, and before the Council or any organisations would engage with him, he needed to formalise the group with a constitution, public liability insurance, risk assessments, and other red tape. @KonectMagazines
