Chorus of support as opera singer Carly Paoli, 32, joins Daily Mail backed clean-up campaign

Opera singer Carly Paoli has hit another high note by joining the Daily Mail-backed Great British Spring Clean.

Miss Paoli, 32, has topped the classical charts and performed alongside world-famous tenors Andrea Bocelli and Jose Carreras.

But the truck driver’s daughter was only too happy to muck in with some litter picking in Devizes, Wiltshire, where she lives with her parents.

She said: ‘This is a really lovely part of the world to live in.

‘I was not a big walker before but I have become one during lockdown. 

‘And it is a real shame when you get out into the countryside and see what people have thrown into hedges. 

‘It is about taking the same care in keeping things tidy as you would inside your own home. You wouldn’t drop chip wrappers there, so why do it outside?’

 

Miss Paoli, whose upcoming album will feature duets with Elaine Paige and Aled Jones, continued: ‘I think the Mail’s Spring Clean campaign is wonderful. [It] sets a good example to the younger generation.’

The campaign, which runs until June 13, began last week.

West End and television star Lee Mead, 39, grabbed his litter picker to join the effort on the beach in his hometown of Southend-on-Sea. 

He goes litter picking each month with Betsy, his 11-year-old daughter with ex-wife Denise Van Outen, and Alfie, his girlfriend Issy Szumniak’s son.

‘When you have kids you want them to grow up knowing that the right thing to do is to keep the beaches clean and try and help the environment,’ Mead said. 

‘There are bins all across the seafront but some people won’t drop their litter in them or take it back home with them, which I think is really rude.

‘The Spring Clean campaign is a great idea. If everyone can do their bit it makes a massive difference.’

The Daily Mail is supporting Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean by asking readers to roll up their sleeves and join the 154,455 litter pickers who have so far pledged to clean 979,928 miles of Britain’s streets, beaches and countryside, close to the target of a million miles.

For more info go to gbspringclean.org 

Waitrose steps up war on plastic

By Sean Poulter, Consumer Affairs Editor for the Daily Mail

Waitrose is extending the range of foods that can be bought loose rather than in plastic packaging after a boom in sales.

Thirteen new products – including loose teas and dried fruit – are to be sold at refill stations in trials across four stores.

This means shoppers will be able to buy them from dispensers rather than in disposable packs.

It comes following a surge in refillable sales over the last six months. Sales of frozen fruit and vegetables are up by more than 50 per cent, according to the grocery chain, while detergent and washing-up liquid sales leapt 24 per cent. 

Pulses, pasta and grains have also seen an 8 per cent increase.

The national supermarket, which launched its Unpacked scheme in 2019, became the first to integrate loose items into its regular aisles earlier this year.

The move, which aims to cut down on waste, follows years of campaigning by the Daily Mail against plastic pollution.

Other supermarkets to experiment with refillables include Asda, which opened its first ‘sustainability store’ last year.