An Irvine woman has turned trash into cash and won £250 thanks to an innovative partnership.
Jennifer Pless is the latest winner of the charity Keep Scotland Beautiful and behaviour change app LitterLotto's initiative.
The partnership, launched in November 2022, encourages more people to bin their litter and offers weekly prizes ranging from £50 to £500.
Jennifer, who is chair of community litter-picking group Irvine Clean Up Crew, has been cleaning up the streets for three years.
She said: “I am passionate about helping people to take pride in where they live and I think having tidy streets and greenspaces really helps increase that pride. I also love our local beach.
“We are really lucky to have it and I think it is so important that we all do our bit to protect and the marine environment beyond.”
Jennifer says that while she hasn’t seen a huge positive difference in the amount of litter in her area, she’s hopeful this win will encourage others to get involved.
“We've been sharing LitterLotto on our social media platforms and will do so again after this latest win,” she added. “We've got a pretty big following so hopefully it'll encourage others to join in too.”
When asked if innovative initiatives like this partnership are needed, Jennifer said: “It depends on where you look. Some areas, like the beach, look amazing most of the time. There are definitely some litter hotspots though that initiatives like this could help with.
“I think the more people see there is a chance of winning real money the more they are likely to join in.”
Catherine Gee, Deputy Chief Executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “I’m delighted to see that Jennifer has been rewarded for doing the right thing through our partnership with LitterLotto.
“This collaboration is all about encouraging people to help tackle the country’s looming litter emergency and it’s brilliant to see people across the country getting involved.
“I’m looking forward to seeing many more Scottish winners benefitting from helping to keep Scotland beautiful.”
Dawn, Campaign Project Manager at LitterLotto, said: “It's great to see our Scottish users benefiting from this regional jackpot.
“We hope that our partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful will encourage others to get involved.
“Our users help keep their communities clean and green and with LitterLotto you can win cash while doing good.”
This innovative venture is one of the many ways Keep Scotland Beautiful is tackling the litter emergency with a national poll conducted by the environmental charity earlier this year highlighting two thirds of people believe that litter is an issue in their local area, and 87 per cent believe that it is an issue across Scotland.
The LitterLotto app is available to download for free on the App Store and Android Store.
Visit LitterLotto (keepscotlandbeautiful.org) for more information or visit the LitterLotto website for details on the app.
Read next:
- Hugh Grant stuns diners at Ayrshire restaurant after arriving in town
- New parking restrictions at Ayrshire retail park with £100 fine warning issued
- Ayrshire takeaways in 'sad copycat' war of words over logo and brand colours
- Retired Ayrshire teacher sheds six stone after 'challenging herself'
- 'Horrendous' Ayr High Street flats plan approved as local makes 'torture' comparison
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter
