This is a collaborative post.
Every second in the UK, 23 pieces of litter are dropped on the floor. From our beautiful beaches and quaint rural destinations, to our busy cities and leafy suburbs, it seems litter bugs have infiltrated just about every corner of the UK. According to Keep Britain Tidy, 30% of all litter is cigarette-related, including 244 million discarded cigarette butts a year which, if stacked on top of each other, would be around the same height as Ben Nevis. Other common types of litter include confectionery wrappers, fast food packaging and alcoholic- and non-alcoholic beverages, to highlight just a few.
In order to raise awareness of this issue just in time for Keep Britain Tidy’s Great September Clean-up (which 680,000 people pledged to take part in this year) Regatta have launched a UK Litter Crisis campaign to encourage discussions and action around the UK’s littering problem.
Littering is an issue I feel really strongly about and, having taken part in a few litter picks myself to contribute my support to the cause in recent years, I’m more than happy to get involved with Regatta’s campaign.
So, what can we do to tackle the UK Litter Crisis? Here are a few small changes we could all make to our lifestyles that would have a big impact on the UK’s littering problem.
5 Ways We Can Help to Reduce Littering
Don’t drop litter
This is the obvious one and it should go out without saying that it’s not morally right to drop litter on the floor. However, sometimes, littering can be more prevalent where there is a lack of public bins or when bins are full. In these situations, many people get tempted to leave their litter behind or tell themselves it’s not their fault that they had to leave their litter as it wasn’t possible to put it into the bin.
It always pays to carry a bag with you that you can store any litter in until you’re able to locate a bin to dump it in. Alternatively, take your litter home with you rather than simply dropping it on the floor.
Pick up litter
Picking up someone else’s litter might seem like a chore and in an ideal world, there wouldn’t be any litter for us to pick up. Sadly, however, this simply isn’t the case in the real world.
The next time you take the dog for a walk or head out for a job, make it your mission to pick up at least three pieces of litter. You’ll be surprised how quickly it will take you and you could always go armed with a bag just in case you find more litter than you expected or you can’t locate a bin.
Take part in an organised litter pick
Besides picking up litter on your own, you could also team up with others for an organised litter pick (assuming you’ll be able to follow social distancing guidelines, of course).
I’ve taken part in a couple of litter picks in the past, the most recent of which being at Caerau Ely F.C in Cardiff with Keep Wales Tidy and McDonalds. It’s surprising just how good it can feel to pick up someone else’s rubbish – and shocking to discover just how quickly litter can build up and begin to pollute the environment.
Educate others
Educating others about just how big the UK Litter Crisis is and telling them about the problems caused by littering can be a wonderful way to transform attitudes.
Ask your friends and family if they’re aware of how big our littering problem is, spread awareness on your social media channels using the #UKLitterCrisis hashtag and if you have children, educate them about the importance of disposing of our litter properly. We all need to do our bit to make sure everyone is aware of the role we all have to play in eliminating our litter problem.
Contact your local council and MPs
Communicating with your local council about littering issues in your area and writing to your MP to ask them to prioritise our littering problem could be a powerful way to address the UK Litter Crisis.
Report any litter build-up or overflowing bins to your local council (these days, you can often do this via social media or email, as well as by writing or phone. Consider writing a letter to your local MP to explain how litter is impacting on your local area and suggest what else could be done to improve the problem, such as providing more bins or emptying bins more regularly, for example.
What do you think needs to be done to tackle the UK Litter Crisis? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
This is a collaborative post.
This is something that really makes me angry, how hard is it hold onto something until you find a bin or even take it home. I must go on about it as remember when my daughter was little getting very angry at someone who dropped some litter and she very loudly told everyone about it as well
Same here, I find it so disrespectful.
Wow, that is a lot of litter, it makes me sad that people can’t just take things with them until they find a bin or make it home. It isn’t hard to do!
I know what you mean. It’s rare I see bins overflowing either, I think people use it as an excuse too often and they could always just take their rubbish home with them.
I honestly can’t believe that this is still such a huge issue!
What drives me mad is everyone is happy to lug half their house on a day out but god forbid bringing their rubbish home with them!
It really makes me sad that we still need to be reminded to tidy up and not litter. Great post with great tips x
Same here.
It was really noticeable when we came out of lockdown, seeing how much more litter was being left lying around.
This is such an important cause, worldwide. I will never understand why some people throw just anything on the ground and don’t take the future of our world and future generations into account.
Me too, it’s so disrespectful.
These are such good ideas! I remember going ok litter picks when I was in Brownies and it is something I’d like to educate my children on from a young age 🙂
They can be really enjoyable!
It baffles me that anyone is so irresponsible and anti social to drop litter or just leave it around, yet so many do. There are lots of organised litter picks round here though at least, which is good.
Me too, it’s such an inconsiderate thing to do 🙁
Fab post. I still don’t understand how people can litter at all. I’d definitely like to get my family involved in a litter picking group – it’s great to get children passionate about it from a young age!
Me neither. It is appalling. That would be a lovely thing to do 🙂
I am sometimes apalled by the number of litter people leave around after having a picnic. More people should be following your example and tips
Same here, it’s often shocking to see what gets left behind.
It’s so sad to see so much litter. I wish people did their bit and recycled and made extra effort to do their bit for the environment.
Me too. It seems like too much to ask of some people.
It is disgusting that litter is still such a problem in this day and age! I’m always reporting stuff to our local council.
Same here, parts of Cardiff get really bad 🙁
I live in Bournemouth and the sheer amount of litter left by visitors frustrates me so much. We always bring our litter home and take part in organised litter picks to help out
That’s such a shame – Bournemouth is so pretty too!
I am appalled at how much litter I see when I’m out and about. It’s so important that we tidy up after ourselves and recycled what we can. We live in such a ‘throw away’ culture and we need to challenge ourselves on this.
Me too, it’s terrible to see – it’s so lazy not to take your rubbish home or pop it into a bin.
Such a good post, I still can’t believe that people in this day and age thinks it is ok to simply just drop litter and not bin it so annoying x
Thank you Melanie, so glad you enjoyed the read. Couldn’t agree more!
I can’t understand why people STILL just dump their litter on the floor!? It drives me mad. My kids are very into litter picking and we’d all planned to do an organised litter pick but then lockdown happened and they all got cancelled.
Me neither. Atrocious behaviour, if you ask me.