HERE WE GO!
NEARLY half a million volunteers are rolling up their sleeves to wage war on rubbish – as the largest clean-up in the country’s history begins today.
Armed with litter pickers and bin bags, they will comb countryside, beaches and streets as part of the Great British Spring Clean, backed by the Daily Mail.
The campaign, organised by Keep Britain Tidy, will start today with the youngest Britons – as more than 750 primary schools start cleaning up their local communities.
From tomorrow, volunteers will assemble at war memorials, car parks, pubs, shopping parades, health and fitness centres and nature reserves to pick up – and recycle where possible – the litter making the country look a mess.
The campaign has already broken records for recruitment in the UK – smashing the previous high of 370,000 in last year’s litter pick.
So far, 461,706 have signed up, closing in on the target of 500,000 litter pickers across the UK, with more than 15,000 events expected to take place over the coming weeks.
Hundreds of councils have pledged their support to cart away the rubbish collected, and the UK Government announced a £9.7million fund to supply litter grabbers and bags where possible. The campaign has been backed by everyone from UK churches to the United Nations. Prince William, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and celebrities including Mary Berry, Sir David Attenborough, Chris Packham and Chris Evans have all pledged their support, as has tech mogul Bill Gates.
Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: ‘Wow! We are blown away by the response to this year’s campaign and would like to say a massive thank you to every one of the volunteers who have pledged their support, the Daily Mail and all the partners and sponsors who have helped make this happen. It’s not too late to get involved and pledge your support. Whether you can do five minutes or five hours, every piece of litter picked up during the Great British Spring Clean counts.’
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp yesterday praised the support for the campaign, saying: ‘I am delighted to see the Great British Spring Clean going from strength to strength, and am really excited by the amount of support the campaign is getting this year.’
She added: ‘I regularly litter-pick with my own kids and I would encourage everyone else to do the same. It’s an easy way to make a difference to our environment and is good fun, too.’
A number of leading Scottish organisations are also backing the clean-up campaign. They include Zero Waste Scotland, the Scottish SPCA, the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland and the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (SIFT).
Charles Millar, executive director of SIFT, said: ‘Most marine plastic originates on land and is either blown or washed into the sea. In Scotland, where the coast is never far away, that poses a big problem for marine life and for the fishing industry.
‘We don’t yet know precisely what this means for human health but there is growing concern that it spells trouble for the fishing industry.’
The Daily Mail has led campaigns for a charge on single-use plastic bags, the ban on microbeads and has also led the calls for a deposit return scheme to ensure plastic bottles are recycled rather than ending up as litter.
GRABBING litter-pickers, bin bags and high-vis jackets, the Mail’s magnificent readers are turning out today to get the Great British Spring Clean under way. From John O’Groats to Land’s End, people of all ages will attend 5,000 events on day one of the month-long campaign.
In recent weeks, the Mail has highlighted how a rising tide of waste – much of it plastic – is blighting our countryside, towns and waterways. Not only is it untidy, it also poses a danger to the nation’s wildlife.
Pictures taken across the country, from major towns and cities to remote parts of the Highlands, reveal the devastating impact our throwaway culture is having on the natural environment.
Our campaign to help address this has been praised by Prime Minister Theresa May, with the UK Government announcing almost £10million to support clean-ups in an effort to make littering ‘culturally unacceptable within a generation’.
Backing has also come from Prince William, Sir David Attenborough, Chris Packham and Bear Grylls. United Nations Environment Assembly president Siim Kiisler has praised the initiative for sending out a ‘strong message’.
But while the Mail has long campaigned against the scourge of plastic pollution, putting pressure on politicians and businesses which led to the tax on singleuse plastic bags and the ban on microbeads in cosmetics, none of it would be successful without the support of you, our readers.
So far, more than 460,000 volunteers have signed up to clear litter. As politicians squabble over Brexit, it is a testimony to awe-inspiring civic pride that so many will give up their time to help create a more pleasant planet for future generations.