More than 14,000 people join Daily Mail’s litter clear-up in just 48 hours

The Mail’s campaign to clean up Britain is off to a flying start.

More than 14,000 volunteers signed up following Saturday’s launch – and the Prime Minister has promised to join them.

The Great British Spring Clean, in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, aims to recruit an army of public-spirited readers for the war on litter in our towns and countryside. Building on the success of last year’s Great Plastic Pick-Up, it will involve thousands of organised litter collections to make Britain beautiful again.

By last night more than 14,000 had registered for the month-long event, which starts on March 22.

Theresa May praised the campaign yesterday, and vowed to take part in her constituency.

This graphic shows where volunteers who joined up to previous plastic clear-up campaigns did their good deeds. They have since returned to back this year’s campaign too

Wayne Dixon is half way through an 8,000-mile walk around Britain’s coastline with his dog, Koda. The Army veteran, 47, is litter-picking on his way to raise money and awareness

Wayne Dixon is half way through an 8,000-mile walk around Britain’s coastline with his dog, Koda. The Army veteran, 47, is litter-picking on his way to raise money and awareness

‘I’d like to congratulate the Daily Mail on their anti-litter campaign – a fantastic initiative which we can all play a part in,’ she said.

‘By helping to collect and dispose of single-use plastic on our streets, in our parks and on our beaches, we can make a real difference to our communities both now and for generations to come.

‘I’m planning to take part in a litter pick in my constituency and I hope Daily Mail readers will join in this year’s Great British Spring Clean.’

Environment minister Therese Coffey also threw her weight behind the campaign. Saying that picking up litter was used as a ‘punishment’ when she was a schoolgirl, she called on Britons to see the task as ‘not only the right thing to do … but something which we are actually proud to do’.

On Saturday the Mail urged our army of loyal and caring readers to fight the scourge of litter blighting our towns, shoreline and countryside. The campaign has already been backed by the United Nations and a string of celebrities and campaigners, including Sir David Attenborough, Michael Palin and Jeremy Corbyn.

Last year some 370,000 took part in the Spring Clean. This year we hope to sign up half a million to help stop litter harming wildlife and making the country look like a rubbish tip.

Karen Harrison, 64, took 6th A Headstone Girl Guides out litter-picking in North Harrow last year

Karen Harrison, 64, took 6th A Headstone Girl Guides out litter-picking in North Harrow last year

The event also aims to build on the success of last year’s Great Plastic Pick-Up, which involved more than 20,000 people over a weekend.

It also comes after more than 30,000 Mail readers enlisted in our Christmas campaign with Helpforce to volunteer in the NHS.

Morrisons to trial US-style paper bag 

Morrisons is giving customers the option of using large, reusable paper bags in eight stores from today.

The US-style 20p paper bags, which can be reused and ultimately recycled, have the same capacity as standard plastic carrier bags.

To further reduce plastic use, Morrisons is increasing the price of standard plastic carrier bags from 10p to 15p.

The paper bags are sourced from responsibly managed forests, the supermarket said.

Andy Atkinson, of Morrisons, said they do ‘exactly the same job as standard plastic bags’, adding: ‘They are tough, reusable and can help keep a large amount of plastic out of the environment.’

TV presenter Julia Bradbury said: ‘I don’t think there’s anybody who doesn’t know now that there’s litter on our beaches, on our coastlines, on our country paths, in our cities – it’s everywhere.

‘For people who are deniers of the destruction that we are causing, you cannot possibly have an argument with me saying that it’s not having an impact, that we don’t need to do something. It’s glaringly obvious.’

The Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, said: ‘Litter-picking fits in with core Scout values of care and respect and helping out whenever you can.

‘I have always been amazed at all that Scouts across the UK already do to look after their communities, especially when I see them out on litter clean-ups. I so admire this newspaper’s initiative around this critical issue, and I am so proud to be supporting the Great British Spring Clean in every way I possibly can.’

Friends of the Earth’s chief executive Craig Bennett said: ‘The Great British Spring Clean is a great opportunity for people across the UK to take action on the plastic waste that’s swamping our streets, waterways and countryside and threatening our wildlife.’

A shocking 30 million tons of litter are collected from Britain’s streets each year, and 2.25 million pieces of litter are dropped on the streets every day. Eight out of ten people have said they are ‘angry and frustrated’ by the amount of litter in the country, and the cost to councils is estimated at £1billion a year.

 Pictured: Connie Sheridan, aged nine, who helped out with a little pick at Olton Library

 Pictured: Connie Sheridan, aged nine, who helped out with a little pick at Olton Library

The Mail has long campaigned for a reduction in plastic waste, successfully lobbying for a 5p charge to reduce single-use plastic bags, a ban on toxic plastic microbeads from cosmetics and a deposit return scheme on bottles.

Mrs May added: ‘Since the introduction of a 5p charge for using a plastic bag, in 2015, we have taken over 15 billion bags out of circulation. This means the marine life around our shores is safer and our towns and villages are cleaner.

‘The Government is now consulting on increasing the charge to 10p and extending it to all retailers, not just bigger businesses.’

The Great British Spring Clean will run between March 22 and April 23. Registration is open online at www.gbspringclean.org.

  • The initial response to the Great British Spring Clean was so strong that it crashed the campaign’s website on Saturday morning. At its height, 100 people a minute were trying to enter their details. Richard McIlwain, of Keep Britain Tidy, said: ‘We were overwhelmed by the readers’ response to the campaign.’

Fly-tipping costs Woodland Trust £1million to clean up 

A charity has been forced to spend more than £1 million clearing up fly- tipping and litter from British woodlands in the past five years.

The Woodland Trust said the annual bill for clearing up the illegally dumped mess on land it owns and takes care of was £200,000 in 2018. Over the past five years, clean-ups have cost £1.1 million.

Woodlands are being used for hundreds of incidents of fly-tipping and littering, with waste found ranging from fridge-freezers and mattresses to carpeting and oil drums.

Last year, there were 1,290 fly-tipping and littering incidents, the trust said, with the vast majority – 998 – in English woodlands. Spokesman Darren Moorcroft said: ‘It is costly for us to take offenders through a legal process, but we do hold that right and have prosecuted in the past, which can lead to substantial fines.’ 

The Woodland Trust said the annual bill for clearing up the illegally dumped mess on land it owns and takes care of was £200,000 in 2018. Over the past five years, clean-ups have cost £1.1 million

The Woodland Trust said the annual bill for clearing up the illegally dumped mess on land it owns and takes care of was £200,000 in 2018. Over the past five years, clean-ups have cost £1.1 million

Why we joined the coast to coast clean-up: The inspiring stories of those who spearheaded the war on litter last year 

By Dora Allday, Louise Atkinson and Colin Fernandez for the Daily Mail

Last May, volunteers from across the UK turned out in force for the Daily Mail’s Great Plastic Pick Up. Some were so inspired by our campaign that they’ve been meeting up for regular events of their own, gathering friends, colleagues, relatives and neighbours to join the fight. But all are united in the conviction that this year’s Great British Spring Clean will be the biggest yet.

We catch up with some of the litter heroes who’ll be returning for this year’s campaign. Why don’t you join them?

NORTH WEST

Town councillor Sue Helliwell, 56, has recruited more volunteers for a pick-up in Alsager, Cheshire. 

‘Alsager’s litter is mainly plastic bottles and takeaway cups,’ she says.

‘People drink on the hoof and, if there’s not a bin, they’re thrown out of cars. There needs to be more litter bins along routes.’

Dundee-based Shoaib Khan, 37, is a regional youth leader for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association. During the Great Plastic Pick Up, he took volunteers to Corrie Fee, Angus

Dundee-based Shoaib Khan, 37, is a regional youth leader for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association. During the Great Plastic Pick Up, he took volunteers to Corrie Fee, Angus

Elaine Beesley, 45, a web developer at Edge Hill University, helps run the Burscough Litter Pickers in Lancashire. 

‘We have never stopped meeting regularly and clearing up the town we all love,’ she says. ‘I want our community to be proud of the work we do and, in turn, be proud of where they live.’

Retired police officer Andy Wright, 48, organised a pick-up at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, near Wigan, during a ‘fun day’ last year that ‘no doubt’ raised awareness of litter.

He says: ‘There were hundreds of families there and we filled bags and bags of plastic.’

Wayne Dixon is half way through an 8,000-mile walk around Britain’s coastline with his dog, Koda. The Army veteran, 47, is litter-picking on his way to raise money and awareness.

He says: ‘It doesn’t matter if it’s near a big city or a beautiful place — it will have the same type and amount of litter.’

NORTH EAST

Stewart Hind drummed up support at Hartlepool Rugby Club, recruiting up to 40 people to pick up litter last year. 

‘We had a number of volunteers who were willing to help the community,’ he says. ‘We’ve picked up food packaging from takeaways, plastic bottles, even metal and tyres.’

Special needs students at Castle School, formerly The Centre, in Ashington, Northumberland, joined our campaign.

Teacher Dawn Watson, 37, says: ‘We were really pleased with how it went. We’re a school for children with severe special needs, so going out into the community can be traumatic. But even our most profoundly disabled students really enjoyed it.’

Former teacher Paul Bridgewater has continued to collect litter since the Mail’s Great Plastic Pick Up

Former teacher Paul Bridgewater has continued to collect litter since the Mail’s Great Plastic Pick Up

NORTH

Cathy Brotherton held a clean-up last year after becoming frustrated at the piles of rubbish left on roads between Dewsbury and Huddersfield.

‘The amount of takeaway containers, beer cans and bottles thrown out of car windows on to verges and into fields, which then get smashed, injuring the animals, is unbelievable,’ she says.

‘We encourage people to go into the countryside, which always gets neglected.’

WEST MIDLANDS

Chris Dunster, 50, from Olton, near Solihull, says: ‘The Spring Clean enables us to do a targeted approach and collect en masse a whole lot more litter than normal.

‘In Solihull, litter-picking is going from strength to strength, so residents are really getting behind it and taking ownership of their local areas. It’s very encouraging.’

Alan Preece, senior warden at the Saltwells Local Nature Reserve in Dudley, will be rallying volunteers to take part this year.

‘As an urban nature reserve, we do get litter and fly-tipping, ranging from cigarette butts to three-piece suites,’ he says.

‘Luckily, we are assisted by two great teams of volunteers who join us to make a difference.’

EAST MIDLANDS

Janice Cain, a stock controller from Northampton, became an ambassador for Keep Britain Tidy after joining last year’s Great Plastic Pick Up.

‘I’m interested in protecting the environment and clearing up plastic,’ says Miss Cain, who this year will be joining The Great British Spring Clean.

SCOTLAND

Dundee-based Shoaib Khan, 37, is a regional youth leader for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association. During the Great Plastic Pick Up, he took volunteers to Corrie Fee, Angus.

He says: ‘Last year, we did one clean-up as part of the campaign. Hopefully, this year, we’ll do two or three.’

WALES

Grandmother of three Lynnette Knight has doubled her volunteer team from six to 12 people since last year’s Daily Mail plastic pick-up campaign.

Recruited via a community Facebook page in Barry, South Wales, members raised money in order to buy their own litter-picking equipment.

The retired conference manager, 65, says that for her five-year-old grandson, picking up rubbish has become second nature.

‘My grandchildren took it really seriously,’ she explains.

LONDON

Karen Harrison, 64, took 6th A Headstone Girl Guides out litter-picking in North Harrow last year.

‘It was really successful from our point of view,’ says teacher Karen.

‘We got a whole unit involved and the girls really enjoyed doing it. We also got a lot of positive comments from local people when they saw what we were doing.’

For former bank manager David Hewett, litter-picking is a retirement project. The 76-year-old walks between Putney Rowing Club and Kew Bridge Road once a week collecting rubbish on the pedestrian path, where dog litter bags, bottles and plastic bags are commonplace.

He says: ‘Such items spoil the picturesque pedestrian path beside the Thames River.’

Town councillor Sue Helliwell, 56, has recruited more volunteers for a pick-up in Alsager, Cheshire

Town councillor Sue Helliwell, 56, has recruited more volunteers for a pick-up in Alsager, Cheshire

SOUTH EAST

Bradley Smith, 30, is a community warden supervisor at Sudbury Town Council.

After last year’s successful plastic campaign, his team is aiming to make an even bigger impact in their area, starting with local schools.

They are visiting six in the town and encouraging them to get involved in The Great British Spring Clean. ‘We’ll really push it this year because we did so well last year,’ he says.

‘Litter is a big part of the community in Sudbury — it’s something we are all passionate about clearing.’

Ian Hudson, 66, organised a pick-up in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, last year and will be holding another in March as part of The Great British Spring Clean.

‘We’re going to meet at the local football club and do a couple of the main roads that are pretty grotty,’ he says. ‘Part of the area we covered last time was the community hospital. I reckon we picked up about ten bags just from the car park.’

Art worker Owen Burton, 20, gathered together 12 members of his family to clean an area of Shoeburyness, on the Thames Estuary, last year and he says that he will be joining The Great British Spring Clean campaign this year, too.

‘Picking up litter is actually fun!’ he says. ‘I got my family involved as I didn’t want to do it alone. The Mail’s campaigns on this are brilliant.’

SOUTH

Last year, Jean-Louis Button incorporated litter-picking into his fitness regime, stopping to pick up rubbish every time he went running in Bletchley in Milton Keynes.

The 26-year-old says: ‘The campaign definitely helps. It motivates people.’

David Rawle, 67, organised a 20-man pick-up with Cranfield Tae Kwon Do Club last year and is keen to get behind this year’s campaign as well. 

‘I can’t think of any reason why not!’ he says. ‘I know a lot of people who couldn’t make it last time — they would certainly join us.

‘We found the usual things — crisp packets, rusty bottles — and then more unusual items such as a chair and half a motorbike.’

Marine conservationist Lucy Agace led a successful litter crusade of 25 people in Brighton, East Sussex, last year. Lucy was inspired to join the Daily Mail’s Great Plastic Pick Up campaign after spending 30 years as an underwater photographer.

‘Tiny microparticles of plastic are part of the sea now and affect everything that comes out of it, anywhere,’ she says.

Stewart Hind drummed up support at Hartlepool Rugby Club, recruiting up to 40 people to pick up litter last year

Stewart Hind drummed up support at Hartlepool Rugby Club, recruiting up to 40 people to pick up litter last year

Property developers Steven and Carolyn Sparks recruited 22 volunteers for a litter-pick on the south side of Lewes last year and are joining The Great British Spring Clean crusade this year.

‘With local authority cutbacks, there are fewer litter bins in Lewes,’ says Steven, 50.

SOUTH WEST

Angie Cheshire, a retired secretary from Uffculme in Devon, is excited about getting her village involved.

‘We want our shops to stop selling single-use plastics — we don’t want them in the village,’ says the 71-year-old.

Former teacher Paul Bridgewater has continued to collect litter since the Mail’s Great Plastic Pick Up. 

The 67-year-old from Portway says: ‘It’s difficult to measure the impact of last year’s clean- up because it seems to be an ongoing problem in my rural area.

‘As a result, I have continued with my weekly litter pick on Fridays.’

Helen Milford, a teacher at Torpoint Community College, recruited volunteers from the girls’ fitness club to pick up litter on Tregonhawke Beach, Cornwall, last year.

‘We would love to be involved again with the upcoming campaign,’ she says. ‘The girls use the beaches a lot, so it’s great to get them caring more and thinking more about how to look after the area.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk