THE MAIL’S GREAT PLASTIC PICK UP
FRIDAY MAY 11 – SUNDAY MAY 13
The Mail is stepping up its war on plastic with The Great Plastic Pick Up — a weekend where we’re helping communities, schools, families and individuals across the UK to come together to clear plastic litter from our beaches, beauty spots and streets, in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy.
Wherever you live, you can make a difference by sparing just a few hours to pick up litter and dispose of it safely.
We’re also calling for schools nationwide to do their part.
It’s so simple to sign up and you can win amazing prizes that could make all the difference to your own community.
What’s more, if you are one of the first 3,000 people or schools to join, we’ll send you a special pack of recyclable litter bags to get you started — so act today. here’s everything you need to know . . .
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
The Great British Plastic Pick Up will run from the beginning of Friday, May 11, to the end of Sunday, May 13.
Communities from across the country will get together in small local groups to pick up rubbish — with a specific mission to remove the plastic that poisons our streets, parks and public areas.
WIN A SPRING CLEAN FOR YOUR AREA
Think your area could do with a proper spring clean — be it removing graffiti, planting flowers or power-washing the pavements?
Then sign up to The Great Plastic Pick Up and you could be one of three winners of this incredible prize for your community, worth £10,000. A Daily Mail team will scour the photos sent to us by The Great Plastic Pick Up groups and select three winners.
If you win, we’re going to send a team of professional cleaners to your area to transform it — and
you can tell them what you want them to do.
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
JUST go to greatplasticpickup.org where you’ll find all the information you need.
You can sign up to organise a pick up or, in following days and weeks, join one that is already going on in your area. You just need to provide your name, address and email.
Anyone can get involved (though children should be accompanied by a responsible adult).
HOW DO I ORGANISE A PICK UP?
Organising a pick up in your area couldn’t be easier. Just sign up on greatplasticpickup.org by entering your email address and creating a password.
You don’t need to be a community leader and you don’t need any experience of doing this sort of thing before. You simply need to work out which area you want to target for your pick up.
now choose an hour or two at some point over The Great Plastic Pick Up weekend — and you’re ready to go!
When you sign up on the website, you get the option of choosing whether you’d prefer your pick up to be a private affair (just you and your family, or a gang of friends, or neighbours) or whether you are happy to gather as many people as possible to join in.
A public pick up will appear as a pin on a colourful interactive map on the greatplasticpickup.org home page. As we get closer to The Great Plastic Pick Up, people can click on your pin to find out where and when your pick up is going to happen and decide to join in themselves.
GOT A QUESTION?
Ring 01942 612 660 and someone can help you. Lines are manned Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I SIGN UP?
Signing up allows you to download a fully comprehensive guide that tells you everything you need to know, with step-by- step information on how to get started and FAQs just in case there’s anything you are concerned about.
The first 3,000 sign-ups will be sent a free pack of 30 special, 100 per cent recycled bags.
In each pack there will be three kinds of bags — a blue bag for plastic bottles you find, a white bag for general waste and a red bag for aluminium cans.
IF YOU’re not one of the first 3,000, don’t worry. We have 450,000 bags to give away and will be distributing them to councils across the country, so you can still collect your Great Plastic Pick Up bags from there — we’ll be sending you information on how to do this.
HOW CAN I KEEP INFORMED?
FOLLOW the #GreatPlasticPickup hashtag on twitter to keep tabs on what’s happening in your area, watch out for our regular reports and features, and keep an eye on developments in the Daily Mail as the big weekend approaches. You can also visit the website
greatplasticpickup.org or call the number below if you have queries.
WHAT WILL WE DO ON THE DAY?
Gather at the allocated point at the set time, check in with the organiser and . . . get picking!
Grab any litter you see and simply put it in the correct bag:
PLASTIC bottles and lids in the blue bag (with caps and labels).
Metal drink cans go in the red bag.
Everything else (such as crisp packets, chocolate wrappers, cigarette stubs, old balloons, fastfood packaging) into the white
sack. Other plastic must all go in the white bag, too, as only plastic bottles and cans are recycled in every region. We cannot mix or contaminate your other two bags with potentially nonrecyclable plastics.
WHAT CAN’T I PICK UP?
NEVER touch syringes, broken glass or large fly-tipped items such as furniture — instead, inform your local council.
Do not attempt to do a pick up anywhere near busy roads and fast-moving traffic.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS?
COUNT up and photograph the bags you collect while keeping a tally of how many full bags of plastic you gather.
You can proudly post your pictures on twitter with the #GreatPlasticPickup hashtag. Group organisers can go back to
greatplasticpickup.org to log the amount of bags of each type and the number of volunteers who joined the group, and to upload photos so they can be entered into the competition.
WHERE WILL ALL THE BAGS END UP?
When you sign up on greatplasticpickup.org, there will be a list of councils. Just find yours and the website will tell you how to dispose of the bags in your area.
The plastic bottles you collect will be recycled and made into new plastic items.
METAL cans will be recycled and made into new metal cans.
Rubbish will most likely be incinerated in a facility that generates electricity from waste (depending on your area, some might go to landfill).