Keep Britain Tidy’s latest initiative sees 41% drop in littering behaviour
Have you ever left a newspaper on a public bench or an empty coffee cup at a bus stop? According to new research by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, more than one in four people (26%) in Heckmondwike admit to this behaviour – known as ‘careful littering’. But the message is simple: It’s still littering.
Now, as part of the Love Where You Live Heckmondwike campaign – a community-led effort to tackle litter and restore local pride – Keep Britain Tidy is challenging residents to rethink what littering looks like. And already, a 41% reduction in littering in areas running the ‘still littering’ behavior change intervention has been recorded in Heckmondwike since the campaign began.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive at Keep Britain Tidy, said: “You might think you’re doing the right thing or think it’s harmless to leave a bit of packaging neatly on a ledge or bench – after all you didn’t throw it on the ground. But it’s littering all the same and the damage is real.
“Litter not only wrecks the environment, but it also undermines our sense of pride, affects our mental wellbeing, makes us all feel unsafe and lowers property values. With Love Where You Live Heckmondwike and the effective initiatives across the town, we’re seeing that by working together, small changes in behaviour can make a big difference to everyone. Let’s keep that momentum going, don’t place litter anywhere and love where you live.”
A community on a mission
A recent local survey found more than a third (37%*) of Heckmondwike residents do not feel proud to live in the area, and national research by Keep Britain Tidy has shown that living in a heavily littered area can have a negative impact on our mental health*.
But there’s hope. Nearly half (44%) agree that people in the area are willing to work together to make a difference to the way the areas looks. Throughout the campaign, Heckmondwike will see:
- School-led clean-up events
- Litter-picking days
- Business partnerships to keep public areas clean
- Tackling of persistent problems such as dog mess, fly-tipping, and cigarette litter
The campaign is a pilot for best-practice litter reduction, with findings intended to shape recommendations for litter reduction efforts across the UK.
Litter reductions as a result of the interventions placed in Heckmondwike are being closely monitored by Kirklees Council, who are working closely with Keep Britain Tidy on the project.
Councillor Amanda Pinnock, Cabinet Member for Communities and Environment at Kirklees Council said:“Unfortunately littering has become a real issue in our communities and changing people’s behaviour about this is a really important part of our wider ambition to have a cleaner and greener Kirklees for everyone. Through our partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, this project in Heckmondwike aims to highlight how even the smallest and unintentional actions can still count as littering. By changing people’s behaviour about littering, we can have cleaner towns and greenspaces to enjoy for longer.”
Love Where You Live Heckmondwike is part of the Litter Pact project by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, with support from Kirklees Council, and leading food and drinks brands Coca-Cola, KFC, Mars Wrigley, McDonald’s and Nestlé with the aim of investing in research and programmes to reduce litter. The campaign is being closely watched as a test model for broader adoption across the UK.