Words by Smiley Team
One of the biggest environmental events in Britain is the annual Great British Spring Clean and this year’s was certainly a triumph.
The Great British Spring Clean is organised by Keep Britain Tidy, which aims to inspire people to eliminate litter now and for future generations.
In 2022, the clean campaign ran from 25 March to 10 April and 438,147 volunteers – including 261,024 school pupils – got stuck in.
Charities, organisations and individuals around the country went out and collected rubbish, filling up as many bags as possible.
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One already established litter picking group in Kent did a large beach clean-up with the volunteers joining forces with Kent Community Foundation.
“We were very pleased to host a beach clean at the Varne Greatstone with Kent Community Foundation," said Eric Brown of Litter Picking Watch Romney Watch. “Everyone did brilliantly."
In total, the team collected nine bags across the stretch of the beach, including fishing line, bottle tops, drinks cans, paper, and plastic.
“As avid supporters of protecting the environment, the Foundation awards grants to environmental projects throughout Kent from our Fund for the Environment. We are guided by the environmental ‘think global act local’ sentiment so the team agreed they we would personally like to do more, and arranged to volunteer in Greatstone," said Natalie Smith, Director of Grants and Impact at Kent Community Foundation.
“We wanted to help a small volunteer group that we had not previously worked with, and we really like what Litter Picking Watch Romney Marsh is doing within their community.”
Charities big and small across the country got involved, including the RSPCA who respond to an average of 10 incidents a day related to animals becoming injured or caught up in litter.
“The collective effect of the efforts of everyone who took part in the Great British Spring Clean is significant for our environment," said Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE.
“More than 150,000 children and young people joined in the Great Big School Clean, proving that no one’s too small to make a big difference.”
LITTER-PICKING: This year’s Great British Spring Clean might be over until next year, but Keep Britain Tidy regularly organise campaigns to get people picking litter in their communities. Take a look.
DONATE: You can support Keep Britain Tidy and help keep them going by giving a donation.
