OUR SURVEY – THE RESULTS

MORE than 7,500 people responded to a nationwide survey on InYourArea.co.uk about littering and its effects.

The results showed people are really angry and sad about litter in their area, which they say is a big problem and getting worse during the pandemic.

They want more to be done.

Half of respondents (50%) perceived litter to be a big problem in their area, with a further 35% saying it was a major problem. Just 14% said litter was a small problem, and only 1% said it was no problem.

Litter has increased since lockdown has eased, according to almost two-thirds of people (64%). A quarter (27%) said it had stayed the same, while just 5% said it had decreased.

Respondents aren’t the people causing the problem: 79% said they had never dropped litter, 15% said they may have dropped small wrappers, cigarette butts or gum on occasions, while 3% said they did litter.

People are very split on whether or not they’d confront litterers: 42% said they were very or somewhat likely to confront them, while 40% said they were very or somewhat unlikely to do so. Four in five people (80%) said they wouldn’t confront someone dropping litter because they’d worry about their reaction. Just 2% said they wouldn’t do it because of it was none of their business and 1% said they would notice the litterer.

Respondents were likely to report people for dropping litter: 25% said they were very likely to, while 39% said they were somewhat likely, with 36% saying they wouldn’t.

Most (71%) would report the person dropping litter to the council, while 11% said they’d report it to the police, and 11% said they’d post on social media.

98% of respondents said they had never been fined for dropping litter (probably not surprising as most said they didn’t drop it), with 1% saying they had been fined. 90% also said they didn’t know anyone else who had been fined, with 9% saying they did know someone.

Most people (86%) said they knew littering was a criminal offence. Most people thought the fine for littering should be higher than the current maximum of £150 – a third (33%) said it should be between £250-£500, 16% said it should be £501-£1,000, while 18% said it should be more than £1,000. A quarter (26%) said there shouldn’t be a change and 7% think the maximum should be less than £150.

The vast majority of people (97%) think their council should enforce the law against littering. Most people don’t think the council is doing an a great job of dealing with litter – on a scale of 1-10, the average was 4, with 21% giving a score of 1, 10% a score of 2, 13% a score of 3, 11% a score of 4, 17% a score of 5, 10% a score of 6, 9% a score of 7, 5% a score of 8, 1% a score of 9 and 2% a score of 10.

Four in five people (81%) think there are too few public bins in their area, 16% said the number was about right, while 1% said there were too many.

Despite all this, half (52%) of respondents said the cleanliness of their neighbourhood was excellent, but 42% said it was dreadful.

People largely agree that litter is a problem (and it’s got worse).

96% agreed that litter is a public health concern.

95% agreed that litter is a threat to animals and wildlife.

97% agreed that litter is unattractive. 58% agreed that littering is worse since Covid-19 (17% disagreed).

When asked to rank these in order, 44% put litter as a public health concern top; 45% put litter as a threat to animals and wildlife top; 42% put litter being unattractive top; 27% put littering being worse since Covid-19 at the top.

More than half (55%) of people said seeing litter makes them angry, a fifth (20%) said it makes them feel sad or depressed, while a further fifth just said they hate it.

1% said it keeps someone in a job, 1% that there are more important problems in the world, and 1% that there’s nothing they can do about it.

As well as fighting for long-lasting change, we’re encouraging people to take up the fight in their streets too by organising community litter-picks.

Register your interest through this form (https://form.jotform. com/202022199522346).