cleanupuk | Litter picking with schools

Kids love litter picking!

There’s a young Gretta Thunberg in all of us. It’s so important that we teach young people that they can come together and make a positive change for their communities and planet.

We’ve heard stories of children litter picking before they learn to walk, and they love it. Litter picking is also an easy and visible way for schools to show their commitment to educating children on their environmental duty, as citizens of the world! It’s a great way for them to become citizens who take pride in their surroundings and want to share the responsibility that we all have for making our neighbourhoods better places to live.

How you can work with schools

Whilst litter within school grounds is legally the responsibility of the school, many litter picking partner with a local school to help reduce the amount of litter and clean up the surrounding area. Here's our tips on how to work with schools:

Lots of schools have a teacher, student and /or parent group with special responsibility for environmental activity and school projects. If you’re keen on working with a school, start by contacting the school office to find out who their eco lead is.

Run an assembly on litter. Assemblies are great ways to engage many students quickly. Reach out to see if you can run one.

Run a competition or a litter survey. You could suggest a poster design competition, an art-from-litter project or a study of how long it takes for litter to degrade.

Here are some ideas for fun activities for children.

Further sources of help for schools:

A number of UK organisations offer environmental education resources for primary and secondary schools, some for colleges and universities too.

One of the longest established schemes is Eco-Schools which is a global sustainability programme. Information on its international Litter Less Campaign can be viewed here.

It’s easy and free to become an Eco-School and it gives access to a fantastic range of materials, advice, help and inspiration covering topics such as water, biodiversity, energy, global perspectives, healthy living, litter, school grounds, transport and waste.

Eco-Schools is run in England by Keep Britain Tidy.

Winnie Wolf in A Woodland Worry. A short animation for children and adults alike educating about the benefits of keeping our forests and green spaces clean and litter free! Winnie has gone for a lovely walk in the woods, but what does he find when he gets there? Winnie Wolf in A Woodland Worry - YouTube

Working with schools across the UK

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