A group of students have been praised for their efforts to clean up one of Stirling’s most popular beauty spots.
Students from the fraternity Theta Alpha Stirling braved the rain to carry out a socially distanced and covid safe litter pick at the top of Gowan Hill in the city centre.
The group filled nine bags of rubbish, picking up empty bottles, cans, masks and even some bizarre items such as a mouldy pillow and a pair of swimming shorts.
The society organised the litter pick after members noticed the vast amounts of litter left on Gowan Hill, a community space important to the fraternity.
Theta Alpha Stirling President Luke McEwan said:
“The litter picking project has been long in the making after one of our brothers noticed how much rubbish had been left there.
“For many fraternity members Gowan Hill is great community space, and we hated to see it so polluted. While staying socially distanced, we managed to fill a total of nine bags of litter.”
The fraternity members have been praised by the Stirling-based environment charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The charity’s Campaigns Officer Heather McLaughlin thanked Theta Alpha Stirling for their efforts during a time when looking after local beauty spots is more difficult due to lockdown restrictions and bad weather.
“Carrying out a socially distant and Covid-safe litter pick just now is tricky, so I would like to thank the students for going to such great efforts to clean up in a safe way. The nine bags of litter they have removed is an impressive result.
“Scotland is facing a looming litter emergency, so cleaning up litter from our beautiful country is more important than ever. The last year has made us all really appreciate our local green spaces and we are thankful that there are people, such as this group of students, keen to keep local environments clean and litter-free for all to enjoy.”
Adding to the praise was Stirling Councillor Jim Thomson, who chairs the council’s Housing and Environment Committee.
Thomson added calls for Stirling residents to take a pro-active approach to looking after local beauty spots.
“I’d like to thank students from the University for giving their time, particularly at this time of the year, to get involved in projects such as this. I very much welcome the fact that volunteers are willingly helping to improve our local beauty spots.
“Prevention is always better than cure and I’d encourage people to safely dispose of their litter – either put it in nearby bins or take it home to recycle it.”
Photos from the fraternity showed Gowan Hill, the site of the beheading stone and two cannons, heavily polluted with litter prior to the cleanup.
Featured Image: Theta Alpha Stirling
