McDonalds volunteers from Southampton restaurant take part in the Big Spring Clean with local school
Hedge End Retail Park McDonald’s restaurant has taken part in the Big Spring Clean along with Wildern School in a bid to keep their local areas tidy. Ten crew members and helpers from the restaurant, which is owned and operated by Franchisee Jose Calaza, as well as 40 students from the school, collected an impressive 10 full bags of rubbish between them.
Areas tidied up included the school grounds, playing and football fields, astro pitches, tennis courts, picnic areas and the car park. Helping keep spirits high and everyone hydrated, the Hedge End Retail Park team handed out free bottles of water provided by the restaurant to the hardworking litter pickers.
Local McDonald’s Franchisee, Jose Calaza, who owns and operates the restaurant, and who organised the event, said:"I'm incredibly proud of my amazing team for selflessly dedicating their time to support our local community. Their efforts have helped keep the areas around Wildern School clean and welcoming, creating a brighter and more enjoyable environment for everyone who learns or works there. Putting people at the heart of what we do is more than a value - it’s a promise, and this initiative is a shining example of our ongoing commitment to being a thoughtful and supportive neighbour."
McDonald’s crew members have been cleaning up litter dropped in local communities for over 35 years. Crews across the UK cover a total of 5,000 miles each week on litter patrols (where they collect all types of litter, not just McDonald’s branded packaging). This equates to 260,000 miles, or the distance from Earth to the Moon since the programme began in the late ‘80s.
McDonald’s is tackling litter in local communities, both by litter picking and reducing the amount of waste its restaurants produce. The brand has been working to make recycling easier over the past four years too, and since 2015, has installed over 1,100 new recycling units, meaning it’s easier to separate plastics and cups for recycling in 85% of its restaurants. McDonald’s also collects used oil from its kitchens and turns this into enough biodiesel to fuel more than half of its delivery fleet.