The Great British Spring Clean

In a YouGov survey carried out ahead of the Great British Spring Clean, more than 31.6 million people said ‘litter-free’ streets would help them love where they live – and 72% of UK adults said seeing litter makes them less proud of their neighbourhood.

The national Spring Clean exercise gathered 425,626 bags of litter last year. A huge amount, but what is also astounding is if you reverse the effort. It means that we as a nation we have tossed 425,626 bags worth of rubbish out of vehicle windows, or have driven into the countryside to chuck the rubbish we couldn’t be bothered to dispose of properly. And it never ends. As our village team cleaned the highways and byways around Burghwallis a day later you can witness the morons who have dropped more litter.

The last weekend of March saw our dedicated team collected 90 bags of litter. No surprise to the team they also collected 50 nitrous oxide gas cylinders ( the ‘catering size’ banned from sales to individuals. Ah the dichotomy of the internet) And the ubiquitous root balls of cannabis plants left by our dear friends. These are left in plastic bags which we spilt to allow the spent roots to act a fertiliser for our hedgerows. And before you ask – no the roots do not regenerate!

Keep Britain Tidy:- “Since 2016 our army of millions of amazing #LitterHeroes have shown they love where they live by pledging to pick more four million bags of litter during the Great British Spring Clean – the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign.

This year we are spreading the word that the environment belongs to everyone! We are proud that since we launched the campaign, millions of #LitterHeroes from communities, faith groups, schools, businesses and local authorities have united to help tackle litter – we all have a role to play.

Many of our volunteers regularly find ‘retro rubbish’ that was dropped many years ago but is still causing harm to our environment today, releasing greenhouse gases as it slowly breaks down in our soil and water, which contributes to the climate crisis.

Litter-picking is a simple action that anyone can do to make an immediate and visible difference to the environment where we live, work and play. In fact 97% of people surveyed after 2024’s campaign agreed they felt they had made a difference to their local area, and 86% said they felt part of a national movement that is taking action to tackle litter.”