A 12-MONTH project to tackle fly-tipping, dog fouling, waste and litter is being launched by a council.

Ryedale District Council launched its campaign, entitled “Don’t be a Waster – reduce, reuse, respect” on September 1 and will be working with parish councils, community groups, schools and businesses to focus on a different issue each month.

The campaign has started by looking at litter and is encouraging residents to share images on social media of them picking up or binning rubbish. The images will be entered into a contest with prizes donated by local businesses.

Councillor Luke Ives, chairman of the council's policy and resources committee said: “It’s not just about the environmental benefits of less landfill and more recycling. This is bigger, better and wider than that. We want to bring together partners, community groups and the residents who already make a difference.

“We plan to work with a local community group on an innovative art project to deter fly tippers. We’ll produce information packs so that parish and town councils know how we can work with them to reduce dog fouling.

“We’ve spent the last 12 months working on this - assessing what’s going on in our communities each month and how we can use that to raise awareness of these issues.

“But we need public support to encourage a change. We have a clear message. Fly-tipping is not acceptable in the Ryedale district. Not picking up after your dog is not acceptable. Throwing rubbish from your car is littering and not acceptable.

“With help from the public – who know how to report these incidents to us – we can encourage all our residents to feel pride in our district.”

For further information about the campaign go to www.ryedale.gov.uk/DontBeAWaster