Walpole community collaborate to create litter-picking guidebook to inspire young people

The Walpole community has come together to produce a litter picking guidebook to inspire young people to help keep their towns tidy.

The Little Litter Pickers Guidebook was created by Nathan Vass Viney in collaboration with the Walpole CRC and Tidy Towns hero Michael Filby, and supported by a grant from Keep Australia Beautiful.

Viney said the four-page A5 guidebook clearly instructed children on how to prepare, where to go and what safety precautions must be taken with regard to litter-picking, while being visually fun and educational.

“The goal here is to inspire young people to get out there and keep their towns tidy,” he said.

Viney said the guidebook included some Walpole cartoon characters that many people within the region were already familiar with.

The guidebook is the third publication of the celebrated local cartoonist following his second book released in September, which features fresh references to relatable local concepts, including litter picking.

“Ever since I first moved here in 2020, I knew I wanted to use that theme in some form with my cartoons,” Viney said.

“The Walpole CRC and Keep Australia Beautiful gave me that chance.

“Now it’s time to get out there and make a difference.”

Viney said the guidebook had been sent to multiple schools across the South West and Great Southern and had been shared online via South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare and Australian Association of Environmental Educators.

“Walpole has always been at the forefront of keeping the environment tidy,“ he said, “We are hoping to make Walpole the hub for positive change when it comes to litter picking.

“Litter-Free Walpole is even written on the sign as visitors are welcomed here.”

As part of the guidebook, children were invited to send in a photograph of themselves litter-picking to the Walpole Weekly for a chance to win a new Bluetooth speaker and comic book.

Filby presented the round one result via a raffle at a litter picking town presentation in Walpole last week, with Pemberton 7-year-old Michael Bendotti the winner.

Michael regularly comes back from playing in the bush near his house with buckets of rubbish he and his friends have collected.

Round two of the competition will start in 2023.