McDonald’s Donegall Place and Victoria Square are calling on members of their local community to help them ‘Pick your spot’ ahead of the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful Big Spring Clean taking place throughout March and April.

McDonald’s Donegall Place and Victoria Square would like to unite with members of their community in a clean-up operation to rid unsightly litter that readers feel is blighting a particular area in their neighbourhood. All suggestions are to be emailed to info@aikenpr.com by Tuesday 1st April.

Joanne Jones Director of Franchising in Northern Ireland said: “The Big Spring Clean Campaign is an effective way of making a positive difference to a particular area and in previous years it has been inspiring to see members of the community join forces to take action on litter that damages our environment. This year McDonald’s restaurants are taking the campaign one step further and inviting their local communities to help them pick the spot which will be the area that crew members clear, maintain and revisit throughout the year.

“At McDonald’s we believe it is important for everyone to help protect and preserve the environment for future generations and we're committed to finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in our restaurants and across our business.”

McDonald’s has supported the Big Spring Clean Campaign since 2010. At the 2013 BIG Spring Clean, McDonald’s staff across Northern Ireland took part in 26 events, collecting over 2 tonnes of discarded waste by cleaning rivers, forests, beaches and housing estates.  As well as the larger-scale Big Spring Clean events, staff at every McDonald’s restaurant also patrol the streets regularly to collect all litter that has been discarded, regardless of its origin.

-ends-For more information, interviews or images please contact:Louise Carson or Caroline Murphy at Aiken PR on 02890663000 or caroline@aikenpr.com

Notes to Editor:McDonald’s has been working hard since 1982 to reduce the amount of litter on streets and was the first restaurant to introduce ‘Litter Patrols’ in the UK.  McDonald’s employees already undertake three litter patrols every day in Belfast, collecting any litter they see in and around restaurants.  

To help reduce the amount of litter McDonald’s produces, the minimum packaging possible is used when serving food. As well as this McDonald’s aims to reduce all restaurant waste and increase the amount that can be recycled. Cardboard is collected from 90% of restaurants for recycling, removing around 10,000 tonnes of cardboard per year from landfill.

For information on initiatives McDonald’s already has in place for nationwide litter management visit:  www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ourworld/environment/litter.shtml.