A mini litter pick is great way to help children understand why we all need to take action to look after our natural world. You can do it anywhere; on a beach; in your street; in the countryside. All you need are some gloves, a strong carrier bag to put the rubbish in and to follow some basic health and safety.
Whilst out collecting litter, take time to talk to your children – Why do people litter? Was it intentional or unintentional? What is the impact of the litter on wildlife? How does it get into the oceans? There are loads of great videos and further information to help you answer these questions on our litter pages https://zone.recycledevon.org/litter/
Top Tips to Stay Safe:
- Always remember to follow good hygiene practice when litter picking: –
- Wear gloves or use a litter picker. Do not touch litter with bare hands
- Don’t touch your face (eyes/ears/nose) while litter picking
- Wash hands immediately after gloves are removed.
- Remove gloves and wash hands before and after going to the toilet.
- Don’t pick up hazardous materials such as needles, medical waste, dead animals or dog poo.
- Don’t go on roads.
- Check tide times if beach cleaning and make sure you know where is safe.
- Avoid nettle, thorny hedges and bramble patches – guard against scratches and carry a first aid kit in case they do get scratched;
- Ensure children and are supervised at all times.
Please place the litter in either a public litter bin or in your bin at home. Do not leave it by the roadside or next to a public bin as it could end up being scattered again by the wind or animals.
If you see fly tipping, then report it to the local council. You can visit the Clean Devon website for further information and contact details https://cleandevon.org/
If you have caught the litter picking bug then there are lots of great organisations to help with further advice. Check out some of the following:
Keep Britain Tidy also have some helpful advice on how to organise a group mini litter pick safely during the coronavirus pandemic https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean/coronavirus-guidance
