Since the 1970s, environmental awareness has been a thing, and in Great Britain, the charity “Keep Britain Tidy” has been the primary proponent of citizens helping to dispose of trash since that time. Local groups organize and mobilize volunteers to clear up litter in their respective areas over the course of two weeks and three weekends during the Great British Spring Clean.
The background of Great British Spring Clean Day
The first National Spring Clean Day in the United Kingdom took place in 1989, with the children’s entertainment characters the Wombles assisting the charity Keep Britain Tidy. According to our research, two million individuals participated in that year’s trash cleaning event. Since then, parks, sidewalks, and public spaces have benefited annually from this initiative. Britons have commented on how much they dislike seeing their beloved local spots littered with trash and how much they value these clean-up days.
Every year, approximately 1,9 billion tonnes of trash wind up in the ocean, which demonstrates that people are more likely to discard items in random locations than in trash cans. Litter is not merely an unsightly or aesthetic issue. It has severe environmental effects that can last for decades.
It can take up to a million years for Styrofoam containers to decompose and break down. A disposable diaper can persist for more than 500 years, cigarettes for more than 10 years, and orange and banana peels for more than a month.
The temptation to “litter” is typically fueled by disdain for the law and its enforcement, as well as ignorance and arrogance in our mindset, believing that someone else will clean up our waste. It costs a considerable amount of money to collect and clear up the trash that many people have carelessly discarded on streets and other public spaces. Keeping the country clean is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor requiring walking stewards to collect trash from distant locations.
Litter is an issue that can be managed. On Great British Spring Clean Day, success is measured in bags of litter collected, which translates to tons of garbage that would have otherwise remained on the ground in communities and polluted the landscape. Therefore, even if you live on the western edge of the Atlantic, make it a priority over the next few weeks to remove litter from the grounds of your community.