October 26, 2015, by Kirsty McKeown
Keeping Lenton Tidy: Meet Harry Cooper, one of the many people working tirelessly to keep Nottingham clean and green!
In today’s blog we will introduce you to Harry, a Public Realm Operative employed by Nottingham City Council. We will also impart some wisdom from Harry to let you know how you can do your bit to keep your area clean. Harry works in Lenton, but has colleagues all over the City and beyond, so wherever you are living this year there will be people like Harry working hard to keep your streets clean.
Tell us a little bit about your job….
Harry Cooper has worked for Nottingham City Council for ten years. Starting his day at 5.30am, he heads to his base at Lenton Recreation Ground for 7am where he enjoys the peace of the park until his shift starts at 8am.
From 8am until 4pm, Harry inspects the streets around Lenton. Covering a vast area including Lenton Boulevard, Derby Road, Castle Boulevard and all the way up to Queen’s Medical Centre, Harry works tirelessly making sure that each street in his area is kept clean and tidy.
Harry pays great attention to detail during his work – litter picking, sweeping out hard to reach places, clearing dog mess and bulky waste. He works in partnership with the local Community Protection Officers to ensure appropriate action is taken against individuals who flout the Council’s zero tolerance approach to litter and waste.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
I get great satisfaction from a job well done, a clean and tidy Lenton, talking to the locals, helping them with waste management information in regard their social responsibility and how they can support the Council in keeping Nottingham clean.
How can students help Nottingham with waste management and the environment?
Whether you are new to the city or you are a returning student moving into private housing for the first time– it is important that you know about the services Nottingham City Council provides to keep the city clean.
Each property is responsible for ensuring that household wheelie bins are put out at the right time for collection and brought back inside the property boundary when they have been emptied.
Students can help the environment by recycling as many items as possible and finding out what can and can’t be recycled. If recycling bins are contaminated they can’t be emptied which means full bins are left out on streets and sometimes litter ends up on the pavement. It is important that bins are not overloaded- another thing that can lead to litter spillages.
It is really important to act responsibly – at all times of the day. More littering occurs during the night when people sometimes forget that it’s their duty to dispose of it correctly – a lot of the litter found around Lenton is bottles and fast food waste.
Services Nottingham City Council provides to help you dispose of your waste effectively:
Waste Management – It is important to find out when your bin collection is as soon as you move in to your new home. You can download a bin calendar and find out more on nottinghamcity.gov.uk/bins or by calling 0115 9152000.
Binformation Texting Services – Nottingham City Council provides a free texting service exclusively to students to remind them when to put their bin out and when to return it back inside their property boundary. You can sign up easily at nottinghamcity.gov.uk/loveyourbin
Recycling Team – Look out for Nottingham City Council’s Recycling Team at many events on campus. More recycling information can also be found at nottinghamcity.gov.uk/recycling
Bulky Waste – Nottingham City Council provides a FREE collection services for items of Bulky Waste. This can be especially useful at the end of term. You can find out more at nottinghamcity.gov.uk/bulkywaste or by calling 0115 915 2000.
No comments yet, fill out a comment to be the first
Leave a Reply