I’m not a technologically savvy individual; I’ve never used WhatsApp, I’m generally un-selfied and I mostly use my mobile for making phone calls. However, five months ago I watched a Ted Talk that convinced me to download a free app called Litterati which subsequently changed my whole attitude towards my environment.

If this has you intrigued, take a look for yourself. It’s only six minutes long, and it’ll be time well spent.

You didn’t watch the film? Keep reading, maybe I can still convince you…

In my pre-Litterati days, I would complain on an increasingly regular basis about the state of my neighbourhood. The fly tipping and litter appalled me. I had no idea how litterers could be converted into non-litterers, so it looked like a problem that would never go away… which sadly made it everyone’s problem.

Downloading the Litterati app helped me make a conscious decision to be a part of the solution. Over the course of five months, I’ve been picking up street litter and recycling the plastic, glass bottles and cans.

This map shows all the rubbish I’ve removed from my neighbourhood since the summer. Litter is still a problem, but now I’m helping to solve that problem (which feels a whole lot better than my previous complaining.)

I started using the app back in June and here we are five months- and five hundred pieces of litter- later. My attitude towards litter has changed. I still hate it, but I hate it enough to do something about it.

Next up, I’ll be asking my neighbours to join me picking litter… an afternoon of making our street a better place and hopefully feeling that little bit better as a result.

Here’s the 500th piece of litter I picked up; a coffee cup from McDonald’s (actually, we’re NOT Lovin It.)

So, if you hate litter as much as I do… please don’t walk past the next piece you see.  Pick it up and bin it (or recycle it, if at all possible.) It’ll feel really good.

And to see what a big difference you can make, download the Litterati app & join a worldwide community of litter pickers. Every piece counts!