Castle Douglas pupils tackle the litter issue (Council Press Release)
The Global Gang of Castle Douglas Primary School joined forces with the Council to see what can used to tackle litter in the area around their school.
The Community Safety Team of the Council, who have the remit to enforce legislation around litter, dog fouling & fly tipping, were already active in the area on one of their Public Engagement Days. They were very keen to assist the youngsters with the issues.
The pupils were in for a treat as John a Street Scene Operator arrived with the huge mechanical street sweeper. This fantastic, but expensive piece of equipment does numerous jobs. Not only does it remove the litter and detritus from our streets, it can empty drains, wash areas and uses its pressure washer to try to remove graffiti.
Many had a go with the pressure washer normally used to remove graffiti, but very effective in cleaning the vehicle. All wanted into the driving seat of this left-hand drive vehicle. Many thought this was a great job to have, so we may have resolved a potential recruitment crisis for the council.
The Global Gang received a presentation into environmental issues an learned how to conduct a litter survey; very similar to the one conducted three times a year in the area for Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The group headed out around their school grounds and a few local streets in the area, keeping their eye open to conduct the survey. On a closer inspection, all agreed the area had areas of concern, although on a wide visual inspection had actually looked clean.
Pupils caused the litter in the school grounds and the Global Gang accepted this. It consisted mainly of plastic bottles & sweet wrappers. They intend to do an intensive litter pick prior to the summer holiday.
Out on Jenny’s Loaning the major items of concern were dog fouling, cigarette ends & broken glass, all items that can influence our health, but things that can be easily solved by people being responsible in the community. Saying that, the dog fouling in this street has greatly reduced over the last eighteen months.
The youngsters fully believe that if we all work together in our communities and do our bit, we can make Castle Douglas a great place for us to live, learn, work, visit & grow.
