‘30 Parks in 30 Days’ campaign welcomed

The ’30 Parks in 30 Days’ campaign will see McDonald’s employees in the town, and across the province, undertake 30 litter clean-ups in parks and nature areas throughout the 30 days of June – including Ballymena.

Led by the seven local franchisees across McDonald’s estate of 33 restaurants in NI, the clean-up events will be supported by local councils, elected representatives, schools and volunteer groups.

Mayor Peter Johnston said: “Mid and East Antrim is renowned for its wealth of areas of outstanding natural beauty, but much to the dismay of so many across our Borough, these are so often blighted by careless littering. Council is strongly committed to doing everything it can to tackle this problem and is pleased to support McDonald’s in this campaign. We very much welcome McDonald’s proactivity around this issue.”

Franchisee Des Lamph commented: “At McDonald’s, we take our environmental responsibilities extremely seriously. We very much share our customers’ and stakeholders’ disappointment and frustration at seeing litter discarded carelessly in parks, on paths and by the sides of roads.

“Whilst our employees regularly undertake voluntary litter clean-ups in these areas, this collaborative ’30 Parks in 30 Days’ campaign between our restaurants and local communities reinforces our strong commitment to tackling litter in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Lamph said the campaign adds further to “a wide range of litter initiatives” rolled out by McDonald’s on a daily basis.

Environment Minister Edwin Poots said: “It is encouraging to see how McDonald’s is help to tackle the problem with this new campaign.

“We all have our part to play and each of us has a responsibility to care for and protect the places and spaces we call home.”