Thanks to dedicated community litter pickers, 20 tonnes of waste have been collected from neighbourhoods, parks and public spaces across Hull.
Since July 2023, over 10,000 bags of waste – equalling approximately 20 tonnes – have been collected by community litter pickers in Hull. This is a significant milestone in Hull City Council’s efforts to keep streets clean and bring communities together.
To empower the community litter pickers, the council’s Love Your Street team has provided essential equipment including adult and child sized litter pickers; hi-viz vests; graffiti removal kits; litter collection sacks; and gloves. The team have also arranged waste collections across the city.
Councillor Charles Quinn, portfolio holder for environment, said: “Our community litter pickers have been instrumental in achieving this remarkable feat.
“Local residents, schools, businesses, and volunteers have come together to tackle litter head-on. Armed with litter pickers, gloves, and bags, they have scoured streets, parks, and green spaces, making a tangible difference to our city’s environment.
“Let’s continue to make Hull a cleaner and greener place for all.”
One Hull company that has made a significant contribution to the 10,000 bags of litter removed is the Library of Stuff.
The not-for-profit CIC (community interest company), were provided with five litter picking kits by Hull City Council’s waste management team in March 2023. Since then, the kits have been heavily utilised by members of the community.
Each kit includes four to five sets of litter pickers, bin bags, hi-vis vests, and gloves.
Talking about how the litter pickers have been used, Alan Dalgairns, Founder and Director of Library of Stuff CIC, said: “We have had lots of members of the community come and borrow our litter pickers including kids’ clubs, beach clean helpers, local businesses, councillors, and just locals taking them as part of a trip to the woods or parks.
“All our litter pickers have been borrowed over 60 times and we love to hear the stories from the people who borrow them. We took them to town after the riots and found so many of our customers from the library there ready to help with the clean-up, we dished them out and went as a group to help clean up down spring bank. We got so many people stopping to thank us, it really was great to help after such a turbulent few days.
“We are an environmental project, so it’s a great feeling that we can also contribute in this way, there are some people in our community who borrow the litter pickers and then get addicted to it! It not a bad thing to be addicted too, but everything in moderation please!”
The litter pickers are free for all Library of Stuff members. To find out more, visit Home :: Library of Stuff CIC
Want to start your own community litter pick? To hire equipment and to book litter collections, visit Love your neighbourhood | Love your street | Hull.
Alternatively, for more information, email loveyourstreetproject@hullcc.gov.uk
