What do a Holyhead brewery, a Cardiff beauty salon and a Newtown supermarket all have in common? Apart from the fact they’re all located in Wales, of course. In fact, what do the three have in common with 70 other businesses nationwide?
If you guessed correctly that each of them has signed up to the new Litter Free Zone for businesses campaign launched by Keep Wales Tidy, well done indeed.
If you’d heard the campaign was part of the Caru Cymru initiative, funded by the Welsh Government Rural Communities, Rural Development Programme, earn a big juicy bonus point.
And if you knew that Keep Wales Tidy has been reaching out to businesses of all shapes and sizes since January, asking them to adopt an area local to them then keep it clean through regular litter picks, well go straight to the top of the class.
So far the response has been both huge and enthusiastic with employers and staff alike seemingly keen to make a difference in their communities while improving their own mental health through the simple act of volunteering.
Dan Jones who brews the award winning Cwrw’ Bae beer with wife Bethan at his Bragdy Cybi Brewery in Angelsey, says,
The Litter Free Zone for Businesses Campaign is a great idea for many reasons, not least because, we’re able to combine giving something back to the local community while benefitting the general environment at the same time
The brewery is now a fully-fledged Litter Free Zone as is Create Salon in the capital city two hundred miles away at the opposite end of the country, where owners Dani and Kasey are also delighted to be able to do something for their own community in Pontcanna.
As Kasey points out,
It’s great to be able to team up with Keep Wales Tidy and do something we enjoy anyway but with more support.
Jenny Coppell, spokesperson for Morrisons supermarket in Newtown, agrees,
By adopting Wern Ddu Lane as a Litter Free Zone, we’re demonstrating that, as a business, being litter free can benefit us all.
Morrisons in Newtown was one of the first businesses in the country to pledge support for the campaign but the example they set so inspired a nearby JD Weatherspoons establishment that manager Sara Davies was keen to get her Black Boy pub involved too, to get her staff going out regularly into the community with their shiny new litter pickers.
“We thought this was just a nice, simple and practical way we could positively affect our local area, from Broad Street along the River Severn to St Mary’s Close,” Sara said, “and make it even more attractive for residents and businesses.”
Her staff conduct a monthly litter pick and they’ve been joined on occasion by James Thompson from Powys County Council Waste Awareness, as well as Keep Wales Tidy Project Officer Rachel Palmer, who have helped them set up and establish best practice.
Interested businesses are asked to register their interest in the campaign on the Keep Wales Tidy website, record data on Epicollect and pledge to litter pick for just half an hour a month, it couldn’t be easier and equipment’s no problem either.
Businesses can either borrow what they need from the nearest Keep Wales Tidy Litter Picking Hub or buy at a discounted rate from Helping Hand Environmental.
Speaking about the campaign, Louise Tambini, Deputy Chief Executive of Keep Wales Tidy said:
We really hope that businesses throughout Wales will support this worthy cause because becoming part of our Litter Free Zone campaign is the ideal way to make a real difference in the community, helping to not only protect our environment, but also preserve it for future generations.
Businesses wishing to take part in the campaign can either visit the Keep Wales Tidy website to register their interest, or download the Litter Free Zone toolkit providing full information on how to sign up.
