Nottingham City Council is launching a series of new environmental awareness campaigns in a bid to encourage people across the city to make Nottingham sparkle.

Building on the success of the Big Spring Clean, Sparkle will highlight that it is everyone’s responsibility to keep the city clean. Cigarette butts, chewing gum, wheelie bins left out on the streets and graffiti are the main themes being tackled.

To launch Sparkle, pupils from Ambleside Junior School, Aspley will be premiering a new educational resource in a form of an anti-littering DVD to be distributed among schools in the city. During this year’s Big Spring Clean, residents highlighted the problem of litter around Minver Crescent in Aspley and in response pupils from the school and the local community made a short DVD which tells a story of run-away rubbish trying to escape from the people who want to clean up their local streets.

The launch of this short film entitled ‘Clean Up Your Act’ will be on Tuesday October 7 between 11.00am and 12.00 midday at the Aspley Community and Training Centre, on Minver Crescent.  The day will start with a litter pick on Minver Crescent by the Ambleside Primary School EcoTeam, with support by Streetscene and staff from Nottingham City Council.

There will be an opportunity to meet some of the young people involved in the film to learn how and why it was made and how it will be used to help raise awareness of and find solutions to the problem of littering.

Cllr Katrina Bull, Portofolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change at Nottingham City Council said: “As part of the Sparkle campaign we want the public to work with us to make things cleaner and only want to use enforcement as a last resort. We have installed new pilot chewing gum bins to encourage people to make a difference and have set up new local Neighbourhood Environmental Action Teams, with 35 new vehicles, to help deal with local grot spots that are reported to the Streetscene hotline on 915 2000.”

Unfortunately for those who continue to flout the law they could face a fine or Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of up to £75. Unpaid fines can result in higher costs – as much as £800 plus £200 court costs. It is better for the public and the city as a whole to dispose of litter in a responsible manner.”

Clean Up Your Act