After 5 months of tidying our local streets assisted by the Litterati app, we decided it was time to call in some extra help! On Saturday we were joined by 10 locals for an hour of litter-picking along our road. We really enjoyed this chance to meet new neighbours and reconnect with old ones.

As we collected rubbish from the gutters, pavements and front gardens, we chatted with people who wondered what we were up to, and hopefully encouraged them to think more about how they might look after their neighbourhood. The hour was up in no time, and we reconvened for a well earned cuppa and mince pie.

Collectively we had gathered eight bagfuls of rubbish and our road was looking positively radiant in the winter sun. Though we’d been picking up other people’s rubbish, we found it a very positive experience; the morning was all about owning the problem and being part of the solution. We’re already looking forward to a big spring clean in 2018!

Many thanks to Neeta from Cleanup UK for all her support and for making this whole process so easy. Why should we pick other people’s litter? Take a look at this short film:

Fancy organising your own clean up, or joining an existing litter group? Check out litteraction.org.uk

We’d love to hear about your litter picking events. Leave us a comment or a tweet @stuffoholics and we’ll give you a shout out.

Together, we can make a difference.