This summer was one for the books, with local community groups in Manchester, Chester, and Gateshead having a friendly litter-picking competition in partnership with Litterati. The turnout was a success, and it was incredible seeing such amazing community groups help clean up their local areas and reduce the amount of litter. We kicked off our Rubbish Summers Are Over campaign with a litter pick of our own, collecting and logging 814 pieces of litter near one of our Modern Milkman hubs. And that was all in the span of one afternoon! Using the Litterati app, we logged and took pictures of all the trash we collected, so at the end of the day we were able to see what the biggest offenders were. This data can then be used to help inspire change in the community!
Next it was time for local groups to roll up their sleeves and get to work, and can we say, we were absolutely blown away by the results. In total, 10,664 pieces of litter were collected – we know, impressive, right? And thanks to the Litterati app, we were able to see everything that was found. The biggest offenders? Drink bottles and cans (2,101), food wrappers (1,131), and cigarette butts (385) were the most common pieces of litter picked. And can you guess how much plastic was found? Out of everything collected, 2,243 pieces of rubbish were made out of plastic – that’s 21% of the total amount of litter collected!
While everyone did an amazing job picking and logging litter like Interpol’s most wanted, only three groups could be crowned the winner.
The recipients of this year’s Rubbish Summer award, and a prize of £500 each to be put back into the community goes to:
- – Salford Litter Heroes in Manchester
- – Positive Action for Little Sutton (PALS) in Chester
- – Wardley Wombles Litter Busters in Gateshead
Here are some words from our fantastic winners about the competition!
‘We loved the competition and it was great to introduce a bit of fun competitiveness. We wanted to say a big thanks to the guys from Stretford who kept us on our toes.’ – Salford Litter Heroes
‘Our belief is small actions can create big changes & we organise events in & around the area to try to improve the quality of life… We collected litter all over the village, car parks, community centre & playing fields. When we saw the contest, we thought we could put the money to some other projects we’re working on (like ‘In Bloom’, to have an impact on the look of the village).’ – PALS (Positive Action for Little Sutton)
‘With the winnings, we’ll upgrade the litter pickers, as some brands are not very robust and break easily. We’ll also buy bag hoops and decent children’s litter pickers as they sometimes struggle with the ones we currently use. This will enable all our active members to each have their own equipment for use within the group picks and when they go picking on their own. Each member will receive a hi-viz jacket, litter picker, bag hoop and gloves.’ – Wardley Wombles Litter Busters
To our winners and participants – you all did a fantastic job litter picking! We’re in awe of the work that you do to help make the community a better place to live. And thank you to everyone else who got involved. Your hard work has truly made the world a greener place!
Want to help make the world a cleaner, greener place? Our winning community groups are always getting people together to help the areas they work in. It’s a great way to meet other people in your neighborhood, as well as a fantastic way to keep your space clean! And if you’d like to take up litter picking yourself, download the Litterati app so you can log and track all the litter you’re removing from your community. You’ll soon find that with a little bit of work and elbow grease, you can make a big change in your neighborhood!
If you live local to the winners in Salford, Chester, or Gateshead then check out their Facebook pages and see what you can do to get involved in your own community.
