DIY litter pick guide
The following is a rough guide to setting up a litter pick. Circumstances for litter picks vary, so have a look through and see what is suitable for your circumstances. Thanks to South Swindon Parish Council for providing litter pick guidance and risk assessment forms. Please note that we provide documents in the OpenDocument format .odt instead of the commonly used Microsoft Word format .doc / .docx. If you're interested, this article explains why.
- Pick an area and a date to clean.
- Gather all necessary equipment. It may be worth contacting your local parish council as many of them provide it. Some also provide public liability insurance.
- Litter pickers.
- Bags or buckets for rubbish.
- Protective gloves.
- A bucket, dustpan and brush (for broken glass / sharps).
- A first aid kit.
- You may also want to wear hi-viz clothing.
- Depending on your circumstances, you may want to complete a litter pick risk assessment (.odt | .pdf | .doc) and COVID-19 risk assessment( .odt | .pdf.
- Promote the event:
- On social media. Keep Swindon Tidy is intended as a local hub for litter picks. Local community and environmental groups might be other good places to post.
- By word of mouth with friends, family, neighbours....
- In public places such as parks, the library, shops, doctors etc.
- In a local newspaper.
- In shop windows
- You're welcome to contact us to help promote it.
- Please ensure to be mindful of / compassionate to animals large and small.
- Collection of rubbish can be arranged through the local parish council. Quite often, we leave rubbish by bins and then inform them of the location.
- Check out this litter picking guide ( .odt | .pdf) from South Swindon Parish Council.
The litter pick stick trick!
Plastic rings are sometimes used to hold bags open, especially helpful when it's windy. But why buy a plastic ring when a stick will do? Simply roll the top of the bag around the stick.
