Keep Britain Tidy: The Great British Spring Clean!

Six in ten Brits admit if an area was littered it would put them off buying a house there, with one third going as far as saying that it would even them make them think about moving out of an area. A further 57% of the UK said they thought antisocial behaviour might increase in littered areas

Keep Britain Tidy has launched its biggest-ever litter campaign, the Great British Spring Clean, to encourage 500,000 people to get out there and make sure their neighbourhood is one of which they can be proud.

The Spring Clean, which will take place from March 3-5, 2017, has won the backing of TV naturalist and writer Steve Backshall, the BAFTA-winning Deadly 60 presenter.

Steve said: “Litter dropped in a British street is a horror show for wildlife, so many animals are injured and even die from the things we throw away. This is such an important issue and I’m proud to be supporting Keep Britain Tidy and their campaign – the Great British Spring Clean.”

New data from the RSPCA reveals that they receive 5,000 reports a year of animals being injured by litter, including swans, gulls and foxes.

Research also revealed that over two thirds (68%) of people said that they were concerned that we were living in a throw-away society. Over three quarters (77%) of the UK said it is important to donate items to charity shops or sell them on so that they can be reused by others, but less than half (48%) of Brits actually do this.

The campaign is being backed by charities such as the RSPCA, the Marine Conservation Society and Keep Wales Tidy and businesses including McDonald’s, Greggs, Costa, Harrogate Spring Water and The Helping Hand Company.

It builds of the success of 2016’s national clean-up, which saw 250,000 people get stuck in to clean up their communities, including hundreds of school children, thousands of community groups and 400 local authorities across the country, who between them collected more than 300,000 bags of rubbish.

Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “The Great British Spring Clean is about getting all those people who care about their environment to take action. We know that more than 50% of people are concerned about the appearance of their local area and so we want them to feel that they can do something about it and they are not alone in caring.

“If 500,000 people help us pick litter for just two hours each that means that our country will benefit from one million hours of clean-up care.”

To sign up for the Great British Spring Clean visit www.greatbritishspringclean.org.uk