Blakedale News

Joint Managing Director of Blakedale, Carmen Bowley, was on BBC Radio Lancashire recently to talk about an anti litter campaign she has started in our local community. 

Fed up of seeing rubbish dumped by the side of the road, in fields and on footpaths whilst out walking her beloved Dachshund, Crumb, Carmen and her husband Bruce decided to take matters into their own hands. Now, whenever they go out walking they have their gloves on and bin bags in hand, ready to pick up and dispose of any rubbish they see along their way.  And Carmen has now launched a new “Keep it Clean, Keep it Green” initiative to encourage more local residents and business owners to do the same.

 “We quickly reached the point where we were coming home with a bag full of rubbish from every walk and realised that we cannot do this alone: a community effort is needed to keep our local countryside clean, green and free of litter,” explains Carmen.

“It angers me that people are walking, driving and cycling through the countryside, and leaving their waste behind. It shouldn’t be down to us to clean up their mess, but if we don’t who will? I hope that seeing our posters and community litter pickers will make more people think twice,” she adds.

Thanks to Carmen’s efforts, our local council has agreed to fund a poster campaign and the addition of a new lay-by bin in a local litter hotspot.

As one of the owners of a business that manufactures and supplies products designed to keep our highways and those maintaining them safe, Carmen is particularly passionate about reducing the UK’s growing roadside litter problem.

It was recently reported that over 150,000sacks of litter are cleared from motorways and major A roads each year by Highways England. The lives of hundreds of workers are put at risk during the dangerous task of collecting litter from the side of busy carriageways.

Carmen concludes: “Litter is not just a local issue, so I hope that more residents and businesses in around the UK will adopt Keep it Clean, Keep it Green, or a similar initiative, within their communities.”

Click here to listen to Carmen’s radio interview. Fast forward to approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes in to hear Carmen talk about Keep it Clean, Keep it Green along with Eric Bell of Heapey Parish Council. You can also follow Carmen’s campaign on Twitter @NoMoreLitterUK