Medway’s Great British Spring Clean
The Great British Spring Clean was a campaign with one simple ambition: to bring together people from across the country to clear up the litter that blights our towns, villages, countryside and coastline.
Your local councillors, Gary Etheridge, Peter Hicks and John Williams, joined Senior Community Wardens to become “litter heroes”, in Strood Rural.
Millions are spent clearing up the litter that many people have thoughtlessly tossed out on the streets and other public spaces, if certain people’s behaviour changed, just imagine how much money could be saved and used for other more important services.
Here are some of the most important and interesting national facts that might just help each of us to think twice about littering.
- 9 billion tons of litter ends up in the ocean every year.
- Nearly a £billion is spent every year to clean up litter.
- 50% of littered items are cigarette butts.
- When questioned, 50% of smokers claimed they properly disposed of their cigarette butts.
- 75% of people admitted that they littered in the past 5 years.
- The most common object found during litter clean-up is fast food litter.
- Men are likely to litter more than women.
- According to a national study, most people who would deliberately litter are those between 18-34 years old.
Medway Unitary Council backed a campaign to get individuals, community groups, charities, sports clubs and businesses to take part in cleaning up their local communities, building on a successful local day of action staged last year.
The brand new Great British Spring Clean rolled out for the first time in March 2017, with a view to it becoming an annual event helping to bring people together and clean up the country.
Cllr. Etheridge stated,
We are delighted to be supporting the Great British Spring Clean and we encourage as many groups, individuals and organisations as possible to take part. By taking a lead at a grassroots level, our communities can show they care about their neighbourhoods and we will make every effort to enable and support anyone who wants to get involved.
Cllr John Williams added,
Our day of action last November made a real difference and shows what can be achieved. This event is now the time for people from all council wards to step up and we will support those who want to make a positive difference.