Litter Pick

Such a satisfying Small Step to take. My daughters love going litter picking, to get home with a big bag of rubbish cleaned from on your community feels like you are really making a difference in your local area. Although, obviously having no litter in the bag would be even more satisfying.

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The RSPCA say they “receive on average, 10 calls a day about animals affected by litter.  This number spikes in the summer months. We estimate that the actual figure is much higher as injured animals are not always found. How we dispose of our rubbish greatly impacts wildlife, especially wild birds.”

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Can you…

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Join a local litter pick? Often local eco groups or councils will organise a litter pick. Can you find your local groups, ask your council or check on social media. Just off the top of my head people who organise litter picks locally include Scoop and Scales, One Project Macclesfield, Bollington Borrowers, Bollington Town Council, Transition Bollington, Plastic Free Bollington (part of Surfers Against Sewage), Macctastic and Macclesfield Town Council. You could also search online such as Cleanup.org.uk or keepbritaintidy.org.

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Borrow some litter pickers? We have a few local places (some of the above) that will loan litter pickers to you free of charge. Could you borrow and have a clean on the school run?

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Buy your own litter pickers? My youngest got a litter picking set (litter picker, gloves and high viz jacket) for her birthday a couple of years ago and she was thrilled. Having child sized items make it much easier and more appealing to her.  

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If litter picking isn’t exciting enough how about Plogging? Plogging comes from combining, "plogga" in Swedish "to pick up" and jogging. www.goplogging.org say “don’t just jog past the trash you see, commit to pick a bit of it up each time….Swedes will often take some gardening gloves and a small bag with them when they go out jogging or hiking- that is the new norm.”

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However you get involved with litter picking please follow safety guidelines such as Clean-up preparation and safety advice | Keep Britain Tidy.

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I hope you enjoy a litter pick soon!

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