Campaign update
Our new report: Litterbugs: How to Deal with the Problem of Littering
Since the 1960s the amount of litter dropped annually has shot up by 500 per cent, and local authorities are now left to foot a bill of an estimated £500 million a year to clean it up. Alongside these costs, companies in heavily littered areas are losing business, and rubbish adds to an air of neglect in local communities, contributing towards increasing crime rates and anti-social behaviour.
Bill Bryson, President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said:
This report identifies the lack of any systematic logic in enforcement policy. Fines are an essential enforcement tool, and one which needs to be applied far more consistently than is currently the case.
As this report also says, we need community buy-in to the fight against litter; we must build civic pride in clean and tidy environments, with communities competing to be spotless. Only then can we stop the exasperating and routine vandalism of a country so rich in natural, cultural and built heritage.
> Litterbugs: How to Deal with the Problem of Littering (4.1MB PDF)
We’re working with schools to tackle litter
CPRE and The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have worked together to produce a new creative and inspiring education pack for schools revealing how litter can easily hurt or even kill wildlife, and the wider damage litter has on our environment. The resource pack, How to Run a Whole School Litter Campaign, includes shocking facts about litter and powerful photographs that show wildlife injured by carelessly dropped rubbish.
Practical activities and lessons encourage children to understand the problem of litter and the harm it can do to wildlife and the wider environment. Teachers will find the suggested activities and lesson ideas can be related across all subject areas of the curriculum.
> How to Run a Whole School Litter Campaign (6.2MB PDF)
Keep up-to-date
Sign up for Bill Bryson's bi-monthly e-bulletin for more information on CPRE’s Stop the Drop litter campaign.
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Six ways you can help to tackle litter:
1. Report a litter or fly-tipping problem to your local council
2. Help us persuade the Government to take action on litter
3. Join LitterAction
4. Make your school litter free
5. Sign up to Bill Bryson’s Stop the Drop newsletter
6. Join us and make a difference
