Community groups and organisations are gearing up to give Edinburgh a post-Winter makeover by taking part in Keep Scotland Beautiful's 2008 National Spring Clean.

During the month of April, groups across the city will be pulling on their wellies and heading outdoors to spring clean their neighbourhoods and help to keep Edinburgh clean and litter-free.

And it's not just local groups who will be getting involved - city businesses and schools are also playing their part in the 2008 National Spring Clean, with organisations such as the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) organising its own annual clean-up in support of the Keep Edinburgh Clean anti-litter campaign, which aims to change littering behaviour amongst residents and visitors to Edinburgh.

On average 50 tonnes of litter are collected each day in Edinburgh, which is the equivalent of 6½ African elephants. Ten tonnes of this rubbish comes from the city centre alone, where 1,000 bins line the streets.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "The National Spring Clean is a fantastic and worthwhile initiative as it gives communities and organisations the chance to spread some community spirit and help keep their neighbourhoods clean and tidy.

"As a Council, we invest heavily in keeping Edinburgh clean and our staff work extremely hard to maintain high standards of street cleanliness across the city. However, there are still battles to be won in persuading some members of the public not to engage in antisocial practices such as littering and flytipping."

Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, John Summers OBE, said: "National Spring Clean made a welcome comeback in 2007. Not only does the involvement of the people of Scotland make a marked difference to the cleanliness and environmental standards of their neighbourhoods, but it also helps to kick start our summer tourist season by cleaning Scotland to a standard that both our residents and visitors deserve."

Checking her green teams' litter-picking route through the city centre, Sandy Pearson, head of marketing at the EICC, said: "Edinburgh's safe and green image is a powerful selling point when we pitch for national and international conference business and we are proud to do our bit to help show off Edinburgh at its best.

The City of Edinburgh Council Services for Communities department focuses on delivering better services to communities across the city, thereby improving everyone's quality of life.

With 47% of people admitting in recent research that they were offended by litter in their own neighbourhoods Keep Scotland Beautiful, KSB, is determined to involve as many people as possible in the 2008 National Spring Clean and is calling for volunteers. The annual event provides those who are annoyed by litter on their local street, park, riverside or beach with the opportunity to pull on their wellies and a yellow tabard and head out into the fresh air to spring clean the neighbourhood and make a difference.

To get involved in National Spring Clean 2008 all people have to do is choose a date in April and apply for a Clean Up Kit at Keep Scotland Beautiful Spring Clean. Information and materials will be issued to organisers and this year, for the first time, an online map of events will be published so that litter picks can be easily publicised to others in the area who may wish to get involved. To further tempt people to get involved participants will be able to enter a prize draw and photo competition with prizes generously provided by Greggs.

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