JOIN US – AND WE’LL CLEAN UP
Amazingly, 563,163 volunteers joined our campaign last year to clean up the litter blighting Britain. We can do even better in 2020 – and it couldn’t be easier to take part ( just ask a Womble!)
Whatever you have planned this weekend, you are likely to come across discarded litter. On country walks, it’s the depressing sight of crisp packets in the hedgerows or discarded dog poo bags up in the trees.
visit a beach and you’ll doubtless come across tangled clumps of bottles and broken plastic washed up on the sand.
On car trips, it’s impossible to avoid those eyesore verges and lay-bys strewn with unwanted cartons, cans, plastic bags and wrappers thrown out of windows.
But for every thoughtless litter lout, there are countless others who want a cleaner outlook on life. today, with the backing of the Daily Mail, Keep Britain tidy launches this year’s Great British Spring Clean and it is set to be bigger than ever before.
Last year, an astonishing 563,163 volunteers pledged to help – the biggest ever mass-participation environmental campaign – clearing parks, beaches, streets and common land of the equivalent of 239,344 wheelie bins full of rubbish – nearly 20 per cent of which was plastic bottles which were recycled.
at 17,097 events across england, Wales and Scotland, our readers collected almost a million bags of rubbish (957,377 to be precise) – that’s 4,308 tonnes of litter that would have ruined our open spaces, potentially harming wildlife. More than 270 local authorities got involved, and the campaign was publicly backed by 89 MPs.
In fact, the campaign was referenced four times in the house of Commons and another four times in the Lords.
Now, the challenge is to make even more of an impact this year.
again, everyone involved will be encouraged to separate plastic to be recycled.
even if you live hundreds of miles from the nearest beach, your efforts will help protect the world’s oceans from the scourge of plastic trash. It’s estimated that 80 per cent of plastic in our seas originated on land.
that’s because, wherever you live, inland plastic is blown in to rivers and out to sea on a windy day. When it rains heavily, the rubbish littering the gutters is washed into storm drains or overflowing sewers, eventually making its way into the ocean.
Globally, rivers carry more than two million tonnes of plastic into the sea every year. and as we now know, the world’s oceans simply cannot cope. But if you join the Great British Spring Clean between March 20 and april 13 this year, you can be confident you will be reducing that burden. Let’s rally a million volunteers to give Britain the biggest spring clean yet.
More than 150 councils are already on board, agreeing to supply or lend equipment and arrange for safe disposal and effective recycling.
every sack of rubbish you gather means you are saving potentially thousands of pieces of microplastic from finding their way into the ocean to poison sea life for decades to come.
You will also be helping to make our towns and countryside beautiful again.
WHEN IS IT?
March 20 – april 13, 2020.
AND WHERE?
On beaches, in town centres, parks, woodland areas – across the UK.
SO WHY SIGN UP?
Because litter – and particularly plastic litter – is a terrible scourge to this country. taxpayers spend £800million every year to clear up after thoughtless litter louts and fly-tippers. Litter is also a threat to our wildlife – the rSPCa receives 5,000 calls each year reporting animals injured as a result of litter.
HOW CAN I JOIN?
Go to www.gbspringclean.org and
and choose from one of three litter-picking options:
■ You can ‘pledge to pick’: Contribute by picking up as much litter as you like, whenever you like, during the campaign period.
■ You can host a clean-up, either a private event with friends, family, a community group or work colleagues – or even an open event that other people can join
■ You can join a public clean-up in your area. In the coming weeks groups will be set up and their details added to a special interactive online map. Click on the map to find out details and email the organiser. They will then liaise with you directly.
WHAT DOES THE PROJECT INVOLVE?
We are asking all volunteers to separate the litter they find into three bags for recycling:
■ One for plastic bottles (which can be easily recycled);
■ One for aluminium cans (highly recyclable);
■ One for all other types of rubbish and waste.
WHO CAN JOIN IN?
Everyone and anyone! We’re aiming for thousands of volunteers to join forces – in partnership with community organisations, businesses and councils – to collect and safely dispose of litter from our streets, parks and beaches.
WHAT DOES A ‘PLEDGE TO PICK’ MEAN?
It’s just a way of recording your interest, support and involvement.
You just need to be able to pick up litter – even one piece a day during the campaign is one fewer littering our environment. You’ll find advice at www.gbspringclean.org
HOW DO I REGISTER A PRIVATE CLEAN UP?
If you’re keen to organise a private group of friends, family or work colleagues, just select the ‘private group’ option when you register. Because your event is private, only those you invite will be able to join your group. You can organise as many clean- ups as you want between March 20 and April 13 at any number of locations.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I REGISTER?
When you sign up to the Great
British Spring Clean you can keep track of everything on your own personalised online ‘dashboard’. This is your own space where you can add clean-ups, get access to useful guides and find out what to do with your rubbish. This is also where you can go after your cleanup to record your results.
WHAT MUST I DO TO HOST A CLEAN-UP?
We’ve written seven useful guides to different aspects, such as registering your clean-up, finding a great location, promoting your clean-up (with social media templates you can use), information about equipment, collection and recycling, details of health and safety as well as public liability insurance, and how to spread the word and report your impact.
We are urging all hosts to return to the website after each event to let us know how much litter was successfully collected. We’re hoping to keep count of how many people took part, how long they spent picking up litter, how many bags were collected, and what type of litter was gathered.
WHAT ABOUT EQUIPMENT?
If you need any – such as litterpickers, high-vis vests, bags or gloves – your local authority may be able to help you. You can also find all the equipment you need at Wilko stores across the UK and www.wilko.com from February 4.
HOW DO I PREPARE?
Go to gbspringclean.org and read our guide or watch our video to find out how to stay safe during a clean-up. Make sure you’re dressed appropriately with sturdy footwear (wellies or walking boots are ideal), thick gloves and, ideally, a high-vis vest. Never pick up needles – let the event organiser know about them and they will contact the council. And if you find broken glass, don’t ever put it in a bag. Put it in a bucket if you have one to hand, or just leave it where it is.
HOW DO I SHARE?
Aim to recruit friends, family or colleagues to join you. Follow Keep Britain Tidy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or subscribe on YouTube to keep track of what others are doing – and share posts from your own account using the hashtag #GBSpringClean. You can also fund-raise via Justgiving.com/keepbritaintidy – and use social media to encourage your friends and family to sponsor your clean up.
THE GREAT BRITISH SPRING CLEAN Friday, March 20 to Monday, April 13 SIMPLY GO ONLINE TO www.gbspringclean.org TO SIGN UP TODAY