Litter from Take Aways on the High St

[bathst2]

I thought I would try and let people know about an initiative the High School has just begun with a view to improving the state of the high street...below is a letter we have sent to 12 catering businesses locally who the pupils felt were used most by them at lunch times. Whilst the onus is clearly on local customers of all ages to bin their litter, use less packing etc we are also wanting to engage businesses to see what we can do together to reduce waste and litter, use more biodegradable materials etc and generally improve the environment here. If you have not heard of this before and you want to get involved please email me back and I can up date you...we are hoping to have a meeting/event with businesses just before Easter hols. Thanks and pass this on!

Dear Proprietor/Manager
I am writing on behalf of Portobello High School Eco Committee and Parent Council to invite you to become involved in a local initiative that we think many local people will be interested in.

You will be aware that weekday lunchtimes on the High St are very busy given the number of pupils who come down to buy take-away food. You will also have noticed, and indeed may be kept busy dealing with, the amount of rubbish left after they have returned to school. The pupils, staff and parents of the school are also concerned about the impact of this on the local community-the look of the area, the cost of cleaning up and especially the message this seems to give about the school and Portobello’s young people!

The Eco Committee, made up largely of pupils but including a small number of staff and parents, along with the S5/6 classes are aiming to give the issue of litter (both on the roads and within the school site) their attention this year by coming up with various strategies to reduce or eliminate the problem. We are sure you will agree this is an important issue and one which the local community in general has strong views about! We would therefore like to invite you to become involved in aspects of this in one or more way, such as:

• Come along to a meeting with pupils and staff at the school to hear about and contribute your own ideas
  Be part of a specific event aimed at reducing packaging, providing more bins etc
  Display customer (as it isn’t all done by school kids!)notices about binning litter
  Participate in local or national award for waste-saving, recycling, using “greener” packaging or similar
  Meet with pupils at your business to discuss these issues
  Involve your wider organisation/HQ…please give details on reply slip

We do not have a final timescale for rolling this out but it will probably be just after the Easter Holidays/April.

If you would like to be kept informed of what is planned or you have a comment to make at this stage then please complete the slip below and send it to the school in the attached envelope. Alternatively please phone the school on0131 669 2324, fax 0131 669 0975
and ask for one of the named teachers below or
email caroline.falconer@portobello.edin.sch.uk or Shiona.park@portobello.edin.sch.uk leaving a business & contact name & number.

We look forward to working with you on this matter.

Rona Gray on behalf of Portobello High School Eco Committee and Parent Council

Cc Portobello Chamber of Commerce
Portobello Community Council
Portobello Rotary Club

To Portobello High School Eco Committee
Duddingston Road
EH15 1NF
Contact name:……………………………………Business name…………………………………..

Address, phone no or email:…………………………………………………………………………

I would like to be involved in the following ideas as part of your litter initiative:

Please tick for YES
Come along to a meeting with pupils and staff at the school to hear about and contribute your own ideas

(Day or evening?)
Be part of a specific event aimed at reducing packaging, providing more bins etc
Display customer (as it isn’t all done by school kids!)notices about binning litter
Participate in local or national award for waste-saving, recycling, using “greener” packaging or similar
Meet with pupils at your business to discuss these issues
Involve your wider organisation/HQ…please give details of who to contact:


Please also tell us of any ideas you have or initiatives your business is involved in concerning litter, waste or recycling

If you would like an electronic version of this letter and form please email contacts as above
Please return this slip to the school by the end of February
Thank you for your interest

[Porty]

Excellent idea.

[seashell]

Brilliant idea.
Wish you every success.

[Pal of Porty]

This looks like a really good inititiative to tackle a problem that has been around for some time. I like the thought of involving all parties and really hope it can work.

Back in 2001, the school in conjunction with the local Community Police Officer, PC Adair, adopted a zero tolerance policy on litter dropping. This involved a police presence in the High Street at lunch time and placement of additional litter bins in key areas e.g. half way up Brighton Place where the kids were finished their meal and had nowhere to place their wrappers. This worked really well for a while but gradually fizzled out.

P.S. Have you thought of shooting the parents of the litter louts?

[BeachBum]

At my old high school if you were caught littering the town you were dealt with under the usual school discipline system.

Its all very well getting the retailers to cut down on their packaging etc; but what punishment is going to be given those caught littering?

Doesnt the schools in Edinburgh take responsibility for their pupils when they are on their lunch? My old school dealt with any incident starting from when the pupil left for school in the morning until they reached their home at the end of the day.

Yeah, its a good thing cutting down on the packaging but its gonna take more than that to stop the school kids littering. It would be nice to see some of the over sixteens given penalty noticies for littering, that should keep a few of them on guard.

Now, all we need is an attempt to stop adults littering.

[seashell]

Doesnt the schools in Edinburgh take responsibility for their pupils when they are on their lunch? My old school dealt with any incident starting from when the pupil left for school in the morning until they reached their home at the end of the day.

Depends on the school. At my school, for example - you weren't allowed out of the school grounds at lunchtime.

I think the intention of this incentive is to encourage a sense of social responsibility rather than using a punitive approach. You can either set up a prescriptive system, which can tacitly encourage the more inventive to find ways to beat the system or you can try to involve peope and set up a sense of community, so that what affect me also affects you.

Oh - and from what I hear from my god-daughter, Earlston has no greater a sense of responsiblity than any other school nowadays.

[BeachBum]

Doesnt the schools in Edinburgh take responsibility for their pupils when they are on their lunch? My old school dealt with any incident starting from when the pupil left for school in the morning until they reached their home at the end of the day.

Depends on the school. At my school, for example - you weren't allowed out of the school grounds at lunchtime.

I think the intention of this incentive is to encourage a sense of social responsibility rather than using a punitive approach. You can either set up a prescriptive system, which can tacitly encourage the more inventive to find ways to beat the system or you can try to involve peope and set up a sense of community, so that what affect me also affects you.

Oh - and from what I hear from my god-daughter, Earlston has no greater a sense of responsiblity than any other school nowadays.

FFS I'm not saying it does have a higher one than anywhere else. Im just pointing out what happened when I went to school there under the former rector.

I do not want to single out school pupils, ive seen plenty adults in Portobello throw down rubbish.

[BeachBum]

I do take my hat of to McDonalds aswell. Im not sure if they do this at every branch or if its just certain ones.

There is a wee man who goes around picking up all the McDonalds wrappers/bags etc; from around the store and on the main route towards the town centre. Shows they are taking responsibility. Pity more outlets dont do this.

The Pavement outside the three monkeys is often a carpet of fag ends when I walk past it first thing in the morning. If each retailer took a bit of resposibility for the pavement outside their shop (whether litter from their premises or not) then the High Street would be jolly nice. Outside our shop we always swept the pavement as a matter of course to help bonnie Gala look good...ROFL.

[BeachBum]

I wonder if this lot at the high school are working with the Environmental Wardens in any way to deal with litter issues?

Whilst speaking to the CSM for East Neighbourhood today he said there was going to be some kind of joint intitiative/educational programme to assist in tackling the litter problem caused by local school pupils.

[seashell]

I do take my hat of to McDonalds aswell. Im not sure if they do this at every branch or if its just certain ones.

There is a wee man who goes around picking up all the McDonalds wrappers/bags etc; from around the store and on the main route towards the town centre. Shows they are taking responsibility. Pity more outlets dont do this.
.

In some instances, this "litter patrol" is actually a pre-requisite for McDonalds getting permission to open a store - as they generate so much littler. This was certainly the case when McDonalds opened up in Royal Avenue, Belfast - the council insisted they have people to clear up the litter generated.

[wangi]

admin: Formatting fixed on first post and a few off-topic posts moved to "Rose coloured specs".

[Eck]

It's up to the individuals to take responsibility for where they put there rubbish. Catering businesses employ people to cater for people not to clean up after them. This approach encourages the 'someone else will do it for me' attitude which seems to embrace the youth of today.

[BeachBum]

admin: quoting trimmed - no need to quote entire messages

What kind of response has there been from local traders regarding this?

[Grunk]

Interesting, clever and simple way to solve the problem.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/glou ... 952397.stm

[BeachBum]

Interesting, clever and simple way to solve the problem.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/glou ... 952397.stm

I wonder if the local traders here would approve. Having to write childrens names on everything they sell whilst a long line is forming.

And what is there to stop a child giving a name which is different to their own?

[Grunk]

Perhaps if we Tattoo the children...

[BeachBum]

Perhaps if we Tattoo the children...

Thank goodness im not included in that 'we'.

When you say tattoo them do you mean in the same way that the Nazi's tattood people in the concentration camps?

[Epykat]

You could tattoo what they usually order on their foreheads and then that would save time when they get to the counter. You could also then match up the litter with the tattoos and narrow down the suspects. I think you're onto something Grunk.

[SoupDragon]

Perhaps Tatoo means massed pipes and drums or a ghurka following each child.
I'd defy them to drop litter when faced with that

[bathst2]

admin: quoting trimmed - no need to quote entire messages

What kind of response has there been from local traders regarding this?

we had 2 replies so not as much as I had hoped BUT a) i have been following up contact with some of the national or regional offices eg Greggs, Pizza Hut etc and b) the school is going to host a meeting at the end of April, when apparently there is to be an "local environment week" in East Edinburgh (see the recent newspaper from the council), to which the full 12 original list will be invited whether they replied or not!
The school is going to look at 3 aspects of the intiative-promted by our replies from Kitcheners Deli and Popeye's-
1) producing a poster for local shops to display encouraging proper disposal of litter-pupils in art classes involved
2) provision and use of bins not just around the high st but also on the route back to the high school...any maybe aelsewhere needed!
3) packaging-the amount and type used...can traders use less and/or more biodegradable materials
Thanks for all the messages of support...please keep up your interest and let me know any other (constructive!)ideas

[Epykat]

.please keep up your interest and let me know any other (constructive!)ideas

Just because some ideas are a bit unconventional doesn't mean they're not constructive!

[BeachBum]

Disappointing only two replies, but then im sure the local traders are busy people with a lot of things requiring their attention.

Action week you mean?

Since we organised the Leith one its become fashionable for Neighbourhood offices to arrange these in other parts of the city.

What is your place in all this bathst2 Are you a teacher there? A non teaching member of staff? A pupil? A parent?

[BeachBum]

And what about a response from the schools managment team.

What are they going to be doing.

Are they going to punish pupils caught throwing down rubbish by way of detention or something? Seemed to work at my old school.

[SoupDragon]

I'd be surprised if the schools could give pupils detention for anything done out of school premises or school hours.

I did notice the council sweeper out on the High St the other morning. Now maybe if it came AFTER lunch time the place would look cleaner

[Porty]

I agree sd - think its been suggested before but wasn't dosble

[Maria]

I'd be surprised if the schools could give pupils detention for anything done out of school premises or school hours.

You are quite correct SD, schools have absolutely no jurisdiction over pupils when they are off school premises, though they will of course give out clear messages about what is appropriate conduct both on and off the campus. I believe that it is a hard core minority of kids who litter and who give their peer group a bad reputation.

I can confidently say that all schools will have a range of disciplinary measures in place to deal with pupils, who litter on the premises. It can ,however, be sometimes difficult to gain parental support. I know of one school which tried to make the punishment fit the crime and got the pupils (equipped with gloves and litter pickers) to collect litter from the school grounds during their detention. This caused an outcry from several parents, who insisted that staff were paid to do this job and that their son/daughter should not be used in this manner!

I did notice the council sweeper out on the High St the other morning. Now maybe if it came AFTER lunch time the place would look cleaner

I regularly see the road sweeping team clean up the area after the school lunch break. I sympathised with a bloke once, saying that it was a thankless task as the next day he'd be faced with more litter to pick up. He just laughed and said that was the beauty of it - he'd never be out of a job!

Like others, I'd just like to say that there are many adults out there who are just as guilty as the school kids when it comes to litter. Good on the Eco committee at Porty High for trying to tackle the problem from their end, but we all need to do a bit more (and that includes the woman who discarded her knickers into my garden hedge).


When I say the woman should 'do a bit more' I mean for the environment!!

[Pal of Porty]

.........but we all need to do a bit more (and that includes the woman who discarded her knickers into my garden hedge).

Apolgies Marya - I will have a word with Mrs PoP

[Maria]

Ah! It was you two playing at Brown Bottle Man and Ciderwoman again, was it?

[BeachBum]

I'd be surprised if the schools could give pupils detention for anything done out of school premises or school hours.

I did notice the council sweeper out on the High St the other morning. Now maybe if it came AFTER lunch time the place would look cleaner

Really, perhaps my old school was doing things wrong. They took responsibility for pupils from when they set out for school and until they returned home.

Actually im not so sure about that because the fat kid who used to live in my stair battered another laddie one lunchtime outside Greggs and the school sent a letter home to his mother. So that would indicate that porty high had some responsibility for things that happen out of school grounds during the school day since they involved themselves.

[bathst2]

Disappointing only two replies, but then im sure the local traders are busy people with a lot of things requiring their attention.

Action week you mean?

Since we organised the Leith one its become fashionable for Neighbourhood offices to arrange these in other parts of the city.

What is your place in all this bathst2 Are you a teacher there? A non teaching member of staff? A pupil? A parent?

I am a parent who used to be on parent council and also had been on eco ctee at primary school...I felt it was an issue that people feel strongly about and was something that more parties than the school and pupils could address, hence approach to shopkeepers who could look at how much paper etc they give out, whether more bins can be provided etc.

Who is "we" who organised week in Leith?

[BeachBum]

Who is "we" who organised week in Leith?

A slip on the tongue. My department at work (we being our neighbourhood office) played a key role in the action week. We is what Id say at work in this instance as its clear its SfC.

[bathst2]

ah good , are you in a position to get involved thru your work or point me to the right people to ensure we have a joint effort at this and during that week especially? the young people have a few other ideas for that week so would be good to get together, yes?
thanks!

[BeachBum]

ah good , are you in a position to get involved thru your work or point me to the right people to ensure we have a joint effort at this and during that week especially? the young people have a few other ideas for that week so would be good to get together, yes?
thanks!

There are people better placed to give you assistance then me.

[Pal of Porty]

Ah! It was you two playing at Brown Bottle Man and Ciderwoman again, was it?

Drat.....caught yet again!

[BeachBum]

Information on Leith Week of action.

Calders week of action info.

Southside Newington week of action info.

Im sure this is what is being planed for the east patch by the neighbourhood office.