Lisette Davidson wins £250 through Keep Scotland Beautiful's partnership with LitterLotto
A Highland woman has turned trash into cash and won £250 thanks to an innovative partnership.
Lisette Davidson is a winner of the partnership between environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful and behaviour change app LitterLotto.
The partnership, launched in November 2022, encourages more people to bin their litter and offers weekly prizes ranging from £50 to £500.
Lisette, from Nairn, believes the initiative is a great way to help keep Scotland beautiful and encourage people to start litter picking.
The 59-year-old said: “I’ve always been a litter picker. We used to go for walks when my children were little, we’d take them for walks and we’d take a bag with us, although there wasn’t quite as much litter as there is now, but we’d always take a bag and pick it up as we went along.
“When we went for picnics we’d always take our litter with us too. I’m a keen recycler and reuser as well.
“We’ve always been keen but more so now we live near the sea, I just hate to see litter on the beach.”
Lisette, as well as being a committed litter picker, is also a keen competition entrant.
When asked about Keep Scotland Beautiful’s partnership with LitterLotto, she said: “[It’s] the perfect chance to combine my love of entering competitions as a hobby with the fact I love keeping the place I live beautiful and protecting nature.
“Just this morning I picked up an enormous piece of long, blue rope that had been tied around a bush. Any animal getting caught in that could be in serious trouble.
“When you see things like that, or broken glass, it makes your blood boil, and you wonder how can people be so thoughtless?”
Not content with getting involved herself, Lisette has managed to spread the word to others too.
“If I’m taking a picture of binning litter and someone walks past while I’m doing it, I’m telling them all about it because I’m so passionate,” she said. “Why shouldn’t you be rewarded for doing something that is helping everyone?”
Lisette said the place she lives is a popular place for people to visit, but stressed everyone must take responsibility for their litter.
She said: “Animals are ingesting plastic which is wrong. If my husband and I go for a walk along the beach, we’ve rescued squid and starfish, but apart from that we’re picking up plastic, bottles.
“If people don’t have the responsible attitude to take their litter with them, all the wildlife that they come to see in this part of the world is going to die. It’s terrible.”
Lisette believes this initiative is a brilliant way to get people involved in litter picking.
“A monetary incentive is a start, and it’s a huge start,” she said. “But the reality is if people listen to their own conscience and start off in a small way, by doing a little bit here and there and other people get to know about it, it’s like a chain and other people will get more excited about it.”
Catherine Gee, Deputy Chief Executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “I’m delighted to see that Lisette has been rewarded for doing the right thing through our partnership with LitterLotto.
“This collaboration is all about encouraging people to help tackle the country’s litter emergency and it’s brilliant to see people across the country getting involved.
“I’m looking forward to seeing many more Scottish winners benefitting from helping to keep Scotland beautiful.”
Carly Di Crescienzo, Local Authority Campaigns Manager at LitterLotto, said: “It's great to see our Scottish users benefiting from this regional jackpot.
“We hope that our partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful will encourage others to get involved.
“Our users help keep their communities clean and green and with LitterLotto you can win cash while doing good.”
The LitterLotto app is available to download for free on the App Store and Android Store.
This innovative venture is one of the many ways Keep Scotland Beautiful is tackling the litter emergency. A recent national poll conducted by the environmental charity found that two thirds of people believe that litter is an issue in their local area, and 87% that it is an issue across Scotland
Visit the LitterLotto website for more information.
