Call for Forfar dog walkers to help tackle litter

Councillor Lynne Devine is keen for people to sign up to the Paws on Plastic campaign, as she has done herself, and start to help keep the town clear of litter on a regular basis.

She also said that it would support the continuing efforts of the Forfar Community Football Trust, which organises regular litter picks covering different parts of the town each time.

She said: “We all hate litter – well maybe not all, as there’s a lot of folk out there who just drop their cans, bottles, cigarettes and crisp packets just anywhere, rather than wait until they get to a bin.

“The wonderful team from Forfar Community Football Trust are carrying out fortnightly litterpicks and last Saturday there were over 30 people, adults and children, out making a huge difference.

But they can only clear up a particular area once a fortnight, whereas dogwalkers are out every day."

The Paws on Plastic initiative was founded in 2018 by Stonehaven primary teacher Marion Montgomery and it just four years it has become a worldwide worldwide phenomenon, involving 80 countries with 23,000 members aiming to collect 34 million pieces of litter annually.

Marion was inspired to start the group due to her experience with her own dogs which were always picking up plastic bottles. She maintains that once a dog plays with a bottle, the responsibility for binning it lies with the owner.

And with around nine million dog owners in the UK alone, the difference they can make across the country can be considerable.

Paws on Plastic also collaborates with Keep Scotland Beautiful’s continuing Clean Up Scotland campaign, which encourages communities to take action in their own areas.

Ms Devine added: “I’m so supportive of the Litterpicking Group which the town has needed for a long time, but this is just something people can do individually.

“I do it all the time at Marketmuir and it does make a difference, although it would obviously be better if the litter wasn’t dropped in the first place!”

Details on how to sign up to the scheme can be found at www.paws onplastic.co.uk.