Keep Swindon Tidy challenges residents to collect 200,000 bags of litter by 2025 to improve the town’s environment.
That many bags equals 1.6 million kilograms, which is also equal to 1600 tonnes. Karen says they need more helpers, and a regular group picks up litter, filling 10 to 30 bags at a time; once, they filled 40 bags at Raychem Lagoon.
Want to help pick up litter? Ask your local Parish Council for tools, as they can give you litter pickers and bags. KST sends weekly email updates about events.
Keep Britain Tidy says clean streets matter, and 2.6 million people want litter-free streets. A survey showed most people like where they live; however, litter makes them less proud.
Seeing litter makes many people angry or even embarrassed. Some have even called out littering, and the Great British Spring Clean is happening soon, starting March 21st and ending April 6th.
Allison Ogden-Newton runs Keep Britain Tidy and recognizes that litter is a big issue which people can fix. Volunteers take action to clean up litter, and their small actions make a big difference.
In 2024, volunteers in South West pledged 25,147 bags. KST hopes to change attitudes in Swindon, where some residents don’t care about their town. Karen finds litter right outside homes, and people even dump waste near their gardens.
Karen wonders why people litter, as Swindon has a recycling center, and every house has bins or bags. She asks how to change this mindset, saying that responsibility comes with everything.
Karen thinks the government needs to do more, mentioning a bottle deposit scheme in Northampton where people get money off for returning bottles. Karen asks why all towns cannot do this.
She rarely sees street cleaners anymore, and Parish councils help as much as they can. They depend on volunteers, and without them, litter would be everywhere, turning into an epidemic.
Plastic Free Swindon’s founder, Ben Bell, says pollution causes many diseases, such as cancer. It hurts neighborhoods and increases crime, and he wants Swindon people to protect the environment.
A clean place has many benefits, such as potentially lower council tax, decreased crime, and better health for people.
Other actions against litter exist, like reducing waste and reusing items. Recycle more often, too; buy local, organic, or used goods. Ben says to stop plastic production and clean our environment, urging Swindon to make a change.