Litter Free Leeds: Meet the purple army helping a city clean up its act

Litter Free Leeds is bring communities, groups and individuals together to tackle the growing problem of littering and fly-tipping across the city.

And its purple army of volunteers is spearheading the war on litter thanks to a growing network more than 150 satellite groups dedicated to the common cause across all four corners of your Leeds.

It boasts thousands of supporters on social media as well as hundreds of active helpers.

The LFL cause was founded in 2017 by community-minded Sandra McLean, a passionate tour de force who loves talking rubbish.

She says for many the scourge of litter is hiding in plain sight with many people choosing to ignore their surroundings.

“I think a lot of people don't see litter. They drive around and walk around and they don't really see it. I was in my twenties and I got a light bulb moment. Suddenly everywhere I looked there was litter. That’s how I started. It was bad when I first got involved.“

Litter Free Leeds’s army of volunteers are easy to pick out thanks to its own distinctive branded purple bags.

“When I started litter picking in 2017, we were issued with white council bags and I used to get asked if I was on community service and was I getting overtime. Was I working for the council? It was a bit demoralizing,” she recalls. “So, I had a word with the council and said, could we possibly have our own very distinctive branded Litter Free Leeds bags?

“And they have been the secret of our success because those bags are actually demonstrating that they're volunteers. They care about their environment. They love where they live. Back in 2017, it wasn't cool to go out litter picking. It is now.”

“People are just wanting to do their bit. Then what happens is they fill the purple bags and they're left by council litter bins and the council they take away all the waste.”

Sandra is quick to point to three main littering issues around the city.

“Our main problem is the motorway network that comes into Leeds. It's where the traffic is traveling at 40mph +. That doesn't make it safe for us to go and sort it. And that is a real area of frustration. National Highways, we're trying to work with them. It's very very hard.”

“I don't I don't want to see it on the main roads. I don't want to have to drive down the M621 and see the litter. It breaks my heart.”

Irresponsible dog owners are another source of frustration for the purple army.

“A minority of dog owners are one not picking up their dog waste in the first place. There’s also the bag it and fling it brigade who go to the trouble of actually picking it up but then just throw it into a bush which we have to recover.”

“Elland Road on a match day is another cause for concern. “It's just horrendous. We've got litter pickers who are doing the side roads. The council are doing the main roads, but it's all the side roads. It's just so frustrating.”

Last year LFL’s army of volunteers recorded filling 30,000 purple bags across Leeds.

“I'd like to have thought that when I started in 2017, we would see a decrease in the number of bags we're filling, not an increase. But there are areas where there has been significant change.”

She singles out Meanwood, Wetherby, Cookridge and Adel as areas which have made significant positive progress before naming and shaming specific south Leeds suburbs as notable grot spot hotspots - Hunslet, Beeston, Holbeck and Harehills.

“It's the culture just to be able to throw your black bag in the middle of the street,” she says. “Fly-tipping is just unbelievable in Harehills. There's a guy there called Keith. He goes out every day. He fills six to eight bags, 10 bags a day. And he goes back the following day and there'll be more black bags full of domestic waste.”

Sandra says Litter Free Leeds is working closely with Leeds City Council who have announced 1,000 new litter bins for city’s streets and suburbs.

“They are asking for our advice as to where those bins should go. And also our logo is going to be on the side of the bins. We want to spread our purple magic across Leeds. A lot of council resource goes into the city centre but once you're outside the city centre it largely falls upon Litter Free Leeds. There are very few litter pickers now in the whole of the city of Leeds and the council have become very reliant on us. It's not just Leeds, it's across the whole of the country. It’s being propped up by volunteers like us.”

Looking to the future and Sandra is on a personal crusade - to make Leeds the cleanest city in the UK.

“Ideally moving forward I want all communities across the whole of the UK, not just Leeds, to take personal responsibility for where they live . And if they see litter they pick it up. If they see graffitti they remove it. If they see fly tipping they report it. Just so that people take a pride. Ultimately what we want is to change behaviours.”

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space, praised the ongoing contribution made by Litter Free Leeds.

“They have played a huge cultural role in helping to get people involved. I think to be honest I think they do a brilliant job. Apart from removing the letter the army of volunteers are the eyes of communities and help report fly tipping.”

He added: “We supply all the bags. They leave them at particular locations and the hundreds of purple bags get collected by the council’s neighbourhood team and get disposed of so it is very much a partnership.”

A spokesperson for National Highways said: “Littering is a social problem, and we are working hard to tackle it on our roads. The simple truth is that if people didn’t drop litter in the first place it wouldn’t need to be picked up and we wouldn’t need to close roads delaying drivers and costing taxpayers millions of pounds - so we urge people to take their litter home with them.”

* For more on the work of Litter Free Leeds visit the group’s website: litterfreeleeds.co.uk or facebook page: facebook.com/groups/litterfreeleeds