A mum sick of seeing 'litter blind' residents walking past rubbish dumped on the city streets decided to take matters into her own hands.
Vicky Osayande mounted an effort to clean up her community of litter, setting up Litter Clear - Volunteer (LCV) on Facebook Instagram to encourage people to follow her lead, and help clean up the streets and green spaces where they live.
Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) found after inspecting more than 300 sites, litter and graffiti in the city is three times the national average, costing the city council £9.5m annually. Vicky told the ECHO: "I started in February 2022 because I care about where I live and to set a better example for everyone including my son. I aim to make positive and lasting changes to where I live and work.”
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Vicky teams up with mum, Muriel and her son Jaylan arranging up to 10 volunteers weekly, mainly in L7, L8 and L15 areas. She regularly joins existing groups in the wider community such as Penny Lane Wombles.
On her 1.5 mile walk to work Vicky often leaves early litter picking along the way and collects up to five bags of rubbish on her journey. Her volunteering also includes clearing graffiti from bins, benches and bulb planting in green spaces.
Liverpool City Council in 2022 teamed up with KBT to form an engagement, education and enforcement programme to tackle Liverpool's litter problem. LCV, Richard Byrne said: "I like to think what we do does have a positive impact in our communities and can spur others to take more care of the areas they live. We’ve seen that with a few volunteer groups springing up across the city.
“I don't think that’s enough to curb the problem and think education is key to ingrain the more positive mindset into the younger generation. A more staunch and vigilant approach to fly tipping and perhaps harsher fines wouldn't go amiss either”.
Littering is caused by all ages; dropping cigarette stubs, vapes, nitrous oxide canisters (which LVC recycle, using the money towards equipment), household waste, fast food containers and fly tipping.
Vicky's son Jaylan said: "Litter can harm plants and animals in growth and life. Littering is also illegal and you can be fined £150. You could also be prosecuted where the fine can be as much as £50,000. If you want this to happen to you, then go ahead and litter”.
Vicky concluded: "We have tried to link with schools to talk with young people and raise awareness of the litter problem. People step over rubbish, walk around it, have their heads in their phones, what I call litter blind.
“The city deserves better, we can't afford to continue to live this way”.
For information visit Litter Clear - Volunteer on Facebook HERE or Instagram HERE
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