Rubbish prize awarded to school litter pickers!

Wiltshire Council's Don't Mess with Wiltshire campaign focuses on reducing littering in towns and parishes, plus litter hotspots around the county such as laybys and on main roads including the A36 and A303.

In total, 51 schools from around the county signed up to the Great Big School Clean and each organised for their pupils to participate in litter collections in their local area. Eight winning schools were selected to receive a novelty bin once the events had taken place. All of the participating schools were given a school litter pick kit containing children's litter pickers, hi-vis vests and gloves.

Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Highways, visited one of the participating schools, along with representatives from idverde, to thank the children involved and present them with their new playground bin. Around 200 pupils at Bishops Cannings CofE Primary School took part in the collections, donating over 100 hours of time and between them collected 25 bags of rubbish from the local area.

Cllr Holder said: I'd like to thank all the schools who have got behind this campaign and donated lesson times or break times and organised litter picks in their local areas. The volume of litter collected and the number of hours that have been donated to this cause is fantastic, not just from the schools, but also by local community groups also getting involved - a big thanks to them too.

Litter is not only a blight on the beautiful landscapes in Wiltshire, but it can also be harmful to wildlife and the environment, and of course, it would be better if the litter wasn't there to collect in the first place.

Encouraging behaviour change and reducing the incidents of littering are key priorities for us, with the Don't Mess with Wiltshire campaign also being about educating the public to dispose of their litter responsibly.

If we can encourage more people to help us in the fight against litter, we can spend the money we spend on clearing up litter, currently around £2m per year, on other essential services instead.

We will continue to carry out regular litter collections on the county's roads and verges, but we also want continue to encourage others who wish to get involved and do their bit to improve their local landscapes to take part in or organise community litter picks.

There are a number of community litter picking groups across Wiltshire, who along with the schools involved in the Great Big School Clean have collectively gathered over 9,860 kg of litter since February 2023. This equates to around 1,650 bags of litter collected by volunteers, who have donated around 1,100 hours of time to help the campaign.

Litter picking could take place as part of a daily walk or as part of a larger community clean up group. Anyone who would like information or support relating to a community litter pick should contact the Streetscene Community Engagement Manager at wiltshirehelpdesk@idverde.co.uk (opens new window)

To report litter in Wiltshire, people can go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/mywilts