CPRE Somerset’s quest to tackle litter

CPRE Somerset’s ‘2 Minute Litterpick’ campaign has gone from strength to strength as they’ve teamed up with projects across the county to help tackle litter.

Local CPRE groups regularly engage with their communities to make positive change and CPRE Somerset is no exception. As part of their #2minutelitterpick campaign they have set up two inspiring collaborations. The first is with Somerset Duke of Edinburgh awards and SEND schools in Somerset; the second is with the Marine Conservation Society.

Over the winter, the group handed out litterpicking kits to Aurora Foxes Academy in Minehead and Avalon School in Street. These are SEND schools, which mean they support people with special education needs and disabilities. Between them, there are now 32 young people doing regular litterpicks for the volunteering element of their Duke of Edinburgh awards. It certainly looks like they’ve had plenty to do!

There are now over 160 litterpick volunteers across Somerset as part of their campaign – mostly at inland locations, and the project is always expanding. More recently, the group teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society’s Source to Sea Litter Quest.

Becoming citizen scientists

The Source to Sea Litter Quest is a growing project run by the Marine Conservation Society that aims to not only tackle litter on our coastlines and in our seas, but also try to trace them back to their source. 80% of beach litter actually comes from inland sources, so it’s hoped that addressing the problem at its root will help prevent litter from polluting watercourses and harming wildlife.

With the hope of raising awareness of marine litter, the students are now being asked to count the different types of litter they find. They were given a list of the worst types of litter that ends up in our oceans – from plastic bottles and cans to balloons and plastic bags. Once counted, they upload their results to Marine Conservation Society who try to trace the litter back to its source. You can find out more about this exciting collaboration here.

Get involved

Anyone and everyone can join in with CPRE Somerset’s #2minutelitterpick campaign. You can find out how here, and whether it’s directly getting involved, or sponsoring a litterpicking kit for £20, everyone can make a difference. The more kits that the group has, the more schools they can involve and the wider the scope of this fantastic project.

So, a huge congratulations go to the students, and all the litterpick volunteers across Somerset for making such a positive difference to the county. Find out more about CPRE Somerset here.