Children’s posters support litter campaign

Posters designed by schoolchildren will spearhead a campaign to reduce litter on Porthcawl’s streets and beaches this summer.

Featuring colourful artwork and creative slogans encouraging residents and visitors to bin their waste, the posters will soon appear around the town as part of the ‘Porthcawl… Love It, Don’t Trash It’ campaign.

A joint collaboration between Bridgend County Borough Council, Keep Wales Tidy and Porthcawl Town Council, together with Sea Quest, the initiative has captured the imagination of hundreds of children. Each of Porthcawl’s four primary schools, plus St Clare’s School, have all been taking part in the project.

The overall winning design – created by Porthcawl Primary School pupil Lilia – shows an octopus weighed down with several items of litter together with her slogan ‘Don’t let litter get out of hand’. Lilia’s design will have pride of place along the seafront as a reminder of the harmful effects of litter on the world’s sea life. Designs by other children will be displayed on streets around their schools.

Over the past month, pupils from the five schools have been learning about the negative impact of litter on their local environment by carrying out litter picks on nearby streets and beaches.

The children presented their findings at a special event held in the Hi-Tide last week. All of the children reported being particularly shocked at how much plastic they discovered and are interested to see what different types of littering trends they’ll discover when they carry out more litter picks during the tourist season.

I am extremely impressed by the children’s passion and determination to clean up their town. The children have told us how much they hate to see rubbish, how sad it makes them to think of sea creatures being damaged by litter, and how no-one ever wants to step in dog poo.

Over the past 18 months, 60 extra bins have been added to those we already have around the town, while 40 new ones have replaced older bins that had seen better days. There is certainly no excuse to drop litter or not pick up after your pet.

Councillor Richard Young, Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities

Councillor Hywel Williams, the Deputy Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council, said: “It’s a shocking fact that half of the Welsh population admit to dropping litter. It’s an issue that affects us all, and here in Bridgend County Borough we spend around £1.5m on picking up litter each year. Surely local taxpayers would rather help prevent litter in the first place, and spend money on other essential services instead?

“I am a firm believer that education is the best way to combat littering, so where better to start than in schools where children can be taught good habits, and hopefully change the ways of any litterbugs in their families too.”

The initiative has also been endorsed by Porthcawl Town Mayor, Councillor Norah Clarke, who said: “I was amazed to discover quite how much plastic the children found during their litter picks. Interestingly, the children didn’t find many carrier bags, which is a sign of the impact being made by the introduction of a carrier bag charge, but they did find lots of single use plastics such as bottles and packaging. As a seaside town, we have a duty to look after not just our streets but our coastline too, so please be responsible with your rubbish.”

Anne Davidson, SeaQuest Manager, said: "We've been really proud of how all the local schools have got behind the ‘Porthcawl… Love It, Don't Trash It’ project. The students worked really hard on the litter picks, and clearly put a lot of thought and effort into their posters. Their final presentations were outstanding and we hope that all the students involved carry on with their infectious enthusiasm to get the rest of their schoolfriends equally motivated to keep Porthcawl tidy!"

Each of the schools taking part in the campaign will also receive a novelty bin for their school yard, while Porthcawl Primary School won their own litter picking set.