Swans and pensioners are tackling rubbish in the Water of Leith. Let's give them a hand! – Hayley Matthews

After seeing the recent article on the poor swan pulling rubbish out of her nest down at the Shore, it's left me feeling very sad about the state of the Water of Leith.

A swan in Leith has been filmed as it cleared its nest of litter (Picture: Susan McColl)

It's not just Leith litter that sloshes about the Shore, it comes from all over Edinburgh.

With just a few gusts of wind, you could easily find plastic from Portobello or rubbish from Craigentinny that's found its way to the Water of Leith.

So I'll say this until I'm blue in the face, if you can't bin it, PLEASE, take it home!

My rant on litter is not a new one and it's all of our responsibility, yet it's often left to those with a soft spot for the environment to do so something.

Only yesterday I saw a lovely wee lady who looked like she was in her 70s picking up litter with a big litter-picker that she told me she'd bought herself for her Christmas.

As I ran to catch up with my boys scooting about, I paused to thank her for what she was doing.

She was bagging lots of litter and was telling me she was trying to collect all the glass that was scattered about the path as it was concerning for her.

I told her that I would join her the next time she was doing it and thanked her very much for her efforts – and I mean it!

So to all the litter pickers out there – thank you from me and thank you from the wildlife too.

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