Litter - Eco Schools

The rat population has boomed to 60m due to the huge amounts of litter around, this means there are now almost as many rats as people in the UK.

Use our Litter Pinterest to find ideas to reuse the ‘clean’ litter you have collected

The Great Big School Clean

This year we have been absolutely blown away by the support from teachers and pupils for the Great Big School Clean. With almost 2,000 schools signed up, the enthusiasm and excitement it has generated has exceeded all our expectations. However, our first priority is to make sure everyone stays safe and well so we have taken the difficult decision to postpone this year’s Great Big School – to run alongside the rescheduled Great British September Clean – from September 11 – 27.

11th September – 27th September 2020

We are hoping that all schools that have already signed-up will extend their support and take part in the rescheduled School Clean in September. If you do decide to continue to support the Great Big School Clean, you do not need to update us on your new clean-up dates, we just ask that you reschedule your planned activity for the autumn term. If you no longer want to participate in the Great Big School Clean you can contact us at enquiries@keepbritaintidy.org and we will remove your clean-up activity.

If you have not already registered for the Great Big School Clean you can do so by clicking below. Upon registration your school will receive a Seven Step #GBSchoolClean teaching guide and other Great Big School Clean resources.

AND… if your school takes part in the Great Big School Clean, you could be in with the chance of winning £1,000 in education equipment, thanks to our campaign partner Wilko. Terms and conditions apply, visit our Keep Britain Tidy website to find out more, we are currently reviewing the competition and will provide further details in due course.

Other Actions

Need more ideas? Here are some of our favourite links to help you work on our Litter topic.

#LitterHeroes Ambassador

If you are over 16 and go above and beyond to care for your community, you can apply to become one of Keep Britain Tidy’s #LitterHeroes Ambassadors. Ambassadors work within their community to encourage others to get involved in litter picking events throughout the year. Successful applicants receive a host of benefits from Keep Britain Tidy including invitations to local and national events and resources to help you care for your community.

Become a #LitterHeroes Ambassador

Helping Hand Environmental

If you want to purchase litter picking equipment for your school, we recommend ordering from Helping Hand Environmental using our School Order Form. Helping Hand provides a range of high-quality, customisable litter picking equipment in a variety of sizes and designs suitable for everyone. Using our order form entitles you to discounts and helps to support the Eco-Schools programme.

Visit Helping Hand Environmental

Waste Services, Local Authorities

Waste services at many local authorities will offer to loan schools litter picking equipment, help organise a litter pick or deliver assemblies in schools. You can search for your local authority online or find your contact on our LEA Support page.

Find local support

Litter Topic Winner, Eco-Schools Award Ceremony

Catherine Junior School in Leicester are expert litter pickers, leading the Wrigley Litter Less campaign in Leicester.

Read Catherine Junior School’s story here

Balloon & Lantern Releases

We know that balloon releases have been a traditional way to celebrate special achievements or events, but our attitudes towards them need to change. ‘Biodegradable’ balloon or lantern releases in schools are not part of our ethos and will be challenged. Please use our Plastic Alternatives Guide for other ideas to replace balloon and lantern releases, glitter and single use plastics in schools.

School Examples

Birchwood High, Warrington

On the 2nd April 2019, Birchwood Community High's Eco-Committee took part in Keep Britain Tidy's "The Great Big School Clean." The Committee organised a day of activities that focused on the impact of litter on the environment. For Eco-Schools Step 5: Informing and Involving they invited year 4 students from a local primary school to join them. The first half of the day was spent litter picking in and around the school site: 32 people were involved (a mixture of Committee members, primary school pupils and volunteers). In total 100kg of litter was collected including 358 crisp packets, some of which were 11 years old! In the second half of the day they learnt about how litter can impact our oceans and how long it takes for different types of litter to biodegrade. While these activities were taking place, in whole-school citizenship lessons pupils learnt about the impact of litter on the ocean and how to solve the litter problem by following reduce, reuse, recycle.

School Website

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