People who live, work and visit Edinburgh can now 'bin it to win it' by taking a photo of their litter being binned and uploading it to the聽LitterLotto聽app.
The LitterLotto is being trialled in Edinburgh for a year, in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, to encourage more people to help keep the Capital looking clean and tidy.
Each month, a prize draw will see one lucky person chosen at random to win a £100 cash prize. To enter, people aged 18 and over must download the free app to their mobile and upload photos of themselves binning rubbish in a City of Edinburgh Council street bin via the app’s camera function. Look out for the LitterLotto stickers on Council bins.
Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee, said:
Our street cleansing teams are committed to keeping Edinburgh looking at its best. They are out tidying up the city 24/7 but we really need residents to help us by binning their litter appropriately when out and about enjoying our stunning Capital city.
LitterLotto is a new fun initiative we are trialling to help nudge people to bring about positive behaviour change while at the same time some lucky person will win a cash prize every month. It’s easy to enter and so we’re delighted to be teaming up with Keep Scotland Beautiful on this.
I’d like to thank everyone who already bins their litter appropriately as well as the hundreds of volunteers who help us each year giving up their precious time on various litter picks throughout the city.
There are also many other ways residents can help us to keep the Capital clean. Always use the correct bins to dispose of household waste and if you have larger items book an appointment at one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres or organise to have a special uplift collection at your home.
"David Landsberg, founder and CEO of LitterLotto, said:
We’re proud to partner with Edinburgh City Council to inspire cleaner public spaces through engaging incentives that make binning litter rewarding. Working together really is making a difference - let’s keep binning and keeping your neighbourhood free of litter.
Jacqui from southwest Edinburgh, winner of the November draw, said:
It wasn't until lockdown that I really noticed how much litter people drop - perhaps folk don’t realise that those sweetie wrappers or cigarette butts wash down the drain, into the river and out to sea. So, I decided to do something positive and bought myself a litter picker and it went from there. I still head out on my own but each month I join fellow Water of Leith Conservation Trust volunteers trying to prevent plastic pollution travelling downstream - it's so satisfying knowing that we are making a difference. Winning the random cash prize with the Council and LitterLotto was amazing - I never win anything!
People can also enter as many times as they like, as long as it’s different litter each time being deposited into a City of Edinburgh Council street bin. As well as a monthly Edinburgh cash prize, entrants will be entered into the weekly national £1,000 draw. The winners will be chosen at random by LitterLotto.