Today is day two of this year’s annual four-day Big Boston Clean Up, and teams from all over the borough are attending and spending several hours picking up litter as well as other debris from Boston’s streets.
When the clean-up began in 2008 a total of more than ten tonnes of rubbish was lifted from Boston’s streets, verges, open spaces and waterways.
Last year, volunteer numbers stayed up, but the total amount of rubbish collected had reduced to just under four tonnes.
Yesterday (Day 1) accompanied by 98 volunteers along with staff from Boston Borough Council and local businesses we quickly started to tackle the effects environmental crime. Discovering items such as shopping trolleys, mattresses, household furniture, car parts, pet’s toys and much more.
This year we are collecting plastics separately which will be later turned into art. Boston Borough Council, Boston Big Local, Transported, the Boston arts organisation, and Lincolnshire’s Waste Partnership have joined forces to turn plastics collected by the schools clean-up and this week’s clean-up into a unique work of art to go on public display.
Laura Mabbutt has jointly been commissioned by Transported, the Arts Council of England funded Creative People and Places programme for Boston and South Holland to engage more people in the arts. She will create a plastic person standing on a plastic Earth to reinforce the message that plastics pollution is overwhelming the planet.
The plastic collected will be stripped into yarn to weave and anyone can join in to help Laura at the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, June 10,11 and 12 from 10am to 3pm.
The sculpture will be displayed at this year’s Lincolnshire Show as part of an exhibit by the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership and then go on public display in the borough.
Supporting groups and organisations taking part this week also include Asda, Lincolnshire Co-op, Boston in Bloom, Boston Big Local, Freshtime, Calders and Grandidge, Nationwide Building Society, Inspire Lincs, MacDonalds, Coveris, LHP, South Holland DC, Boston Fire Station, Boston Police Cadets, Longhurst, North Sea Camp, Environment Agency, Thistles Nursery, Burton Corner WI, Centrepoint Outreach and Framework.
Clean-up organiser Jen Moore, Boston Borough Council’s environment supervisor would like to thank all that have helped so far this week and is looking forward to the next few days. There is still time for you to join us if you have not already by emailing tracey.banks@boston.gov.uk
Jen said: “It is great to see so many people at our clean up event each year. Protecting our town is important to us; holding events like this encourages people to work together for a better town to live in.
“We are all so grateful for all that the volunteers do to help keep the town clean and tidy; not just at Big Boston Clean Up time but throughout the year. Some faces I recognise from year one. They keep coming back because, despite the fact they are out in all-weather picking up litter, there is great camaraderie and they really enjoy these four days.”
ASDA, Freshtime and Lincolnshire Co-op are also thanked for providing lunches for all the volunteers. A big thank you to Boston Big Local for enabling us to purchase all the equipment.