NICOLA Sturgeon has hit out at people leaving litter in Scotland’s public spaces following widespread anger over the amount of rubbish strewn across The Meadows in Edinburgh.
Yesterday morning, author Ian Rankin shared images of plastic bags, cans of beer and glass bottles left across the park following days of warm weather in the capital.
The scenes were condemned as “disgraceful” and social media users urged Edinburgh residents to clean up after themselves.
READ MORE: Edinburgh: Anger as Meadows are left covered in litter
Council workers had been cleaning up the litter each morning but, as Rankin pointed out in his original tweet, by the end of the day those gathering in The Meadows had left new piles of rubbish on the grass.
This morning volunteers joined forces to collect all the rubbish in the park at 5am – and spelled out Scotland’s coronavirus death toll with the litter picked up, aiming to raise awareness of the lives lost and sacrifices made throughout the pandemic so far.
The group also wanted to take some of the pressure off the council workers who had to deal with the mess each day.
This afternoon the SNP leader responded by speaking out against those leaving litter in Scotland’s public spaces.
Urging people to avoid crowded places – even outdoor ones – following the major incident in the south of England yesterday, Sturgeon said: “Of course, if you are out and about enjoying public spaces responsibly, and this is the point that I alluded to at the outset – please take your litter home with you.
“Refuse collectors across the country are doing an incredible job and I do want to thank them today – but they simply should not be having to clean up after outdoor gatherings.”
“So please now more than ever, our individual decisions affect all of us. They affect society as a whole. That means all of us need to be considerate of one another – that should be the case at all times. But it is particularly true right now. It’s really important that we care for each other, that we look out for each other. That we remember that the things we do could harm other people.”
“If we all act in that spirit of collective love and solidarity, as we have without this, then we will see that progress continue to continue.”
Also at the daily briefing, Sturgeon announced there had been zero coronavirus deaths recorded in the last 24 hours for the first weekday since before the beginning of lockdown.
The First Minister urged people to continue to follow the guidance and stressed the virus is still out there, but added the news was “really significant” in terms of the fight against coronavirus.
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