Litter is a huge problem in many countries. And millions of people go out litter picking in their communities every year to clean up the rubbish.
There is no doubt that litter in our environment is an eye sore, but it also has a negative effect on our ecosystems, including our waterways. Plastic items, for example, leak toxic chemcials as they break down, which are harmful to aquatic life. (Li et al., 2016)
They also relase microplastics, which negatively impact various vital processes in animals, such as development, metabolism, and reproduction. (Debnath et al., 2024)
Containers such as bottles and cans, which are one of the most littered itmes, can be death traps from wildlife. (Kolenda et al., 2022)
So clearly, something has to be done. But is litter picking the solution to our problem? This Eco HomeLife Explains edition will answer this question.
Litter Picks Are Important
There is no doubt that removing litter from the environment is a vital part of solving the problem. Taking a plastic bottle out of an ecosystem will prevent toxic chemcials, microplastics and the death of animals getting trapped.
Keep Britain Tidy, the UK’s biggest environmental charity, reported that 462,410 bags of litter were pledged as part of their campaign The Great British Spring Clean 2025.
That’s a huge amount of litter that was removed from our environment, preventing it from becoming harmful or hazardous to wildlife.
Also, clean environments signal that littering isn’t normal. Research has shown that people are less likely to litter in an area where there is no or hardly any litter. (Dur and Volaard, 2013)
So litter picks can help in this respect and as such are very important.
The villages around us organise regular litter picks to keep the communities clean and tidy. What is particularly good to see is that many children take part, teaching them that littering is bad.
These children are unlikely to litter when they grow up, because they have been involved in litter picks themselves.
So, going out and picking litter as part of a community event, or organised by your local authority is definitely worth the effort.
BUT… Litter Picking Won’t Change Behaviours
Not matter how often litter pickers go out to pick up litter in their local area, it won’t stop others from littering. The fundamental problem here are cultural attitudes and behaviours.
Littering is a respons to a commons dilemma, which means it is beneficial to the littering individum, but creates costs for others. (Kolodko and Read, 2018)
This means people litter because it’s easier than not to, despite it causing costs or issues for others, including the enviornment.
Picking up after them, won’t change their behaviour. And only if we can change the behaviour of people that litter, will we be able to solve the issue.
It’s like with children. If they litter the house with rubbish that they can’t be bothered to but in the bin, and the parents just clean up after them, the kids will continue to do it.
No matter how much the parents complain, as long as they keep tidying up, their children will continue to be messy.
It’s the same with people littering. Why would they stop? It makes their life easier and someone else takes care of the litter.
A Combination Of Measures Is Needed
If litter picks alone can’t solve the issue, what else needs to happen? Kolodko and Read have identified four strategies that will help to reduce littering if used together:
- Education
- Consequences
- Incentives
- Identity
Better Inform People About Impact
If people have the right information, they will be able to predict what effect their actions have. This means if people know what impact littering has on our environment, they are less likely to do it.
Teaching children in school the impact of littering, can be a powerful tool to create non-littering generations. Equally, organising litter picks in schools, local communities and public spaces can serve as education campaigns.
Litter picking events can be much more than just a way to reduce litter in our environment, as they can also provide people with information about the impacts the rubbish on our streets, oceans and rivers have.
Other information campaigns run by local authorities, such as local councils, as well as on a national level will help educate the nation. Posters in cities, towns and big events, TV adverts, social media campains, etc. could all help drive home the message.
Make People Who Litter Feel Consequences
Littering is against the law in the UK and anyone littering could face a fine of up to £2,500 or a fixed penatly of between £50 and £80. However, enforcment of this law isn’t consistent across the country.
Besides policing such a law isn’t easy and would require a lot of resources. I encounter a lot of litter on my morning runs along country lanes. Every time I go out there is new litter, so clearly there are people who regularly throw out their rubbish from cars.
It’s impossible for the police to ever catch who does this, unless police staff were to be stationed there to wait and catch the litterers red-handed, or install CCTV to capture them in the act.
Due to the lack of resources, most littering goes unpunished, which makes the law ineffective. Besides many people probably don’t even know that it’s against the law.
So this would be a good place to start. An awareness campaign that makes it very clear that littering is against the law might induce some people not to do it.
But for any law to be effective, it needs to be enforced, which currently is not the case in the UK when it comes to littering.
Incentivise People Not To Litter
We have already said that most people litter because it’s easier than not to. In order to change their behaviour you have to make not littering the easier or more benficial options.
One way to make it easy for peope not to throw their litter on the ground is to provide bins. If it’s just as easy to drop a crisp packet as it is to put it in a bin, most people will opt for the bin.
But using a bin can be made the more beneficial option by giving the person something in return.
This doesn’t have to mean paying them to put their rubbish in a bin or even giving them a chocolate bar. Not only would this be very difficult, it could also lead to more rubbish being produced, as people are out for more rewards.
We know people like to feel good about themselves. So what if the bin would say something like “Thank you, you’re awsome” every time someone drops something into it?
Fitting bins with solar panels could provide the energy needed to make this happen. And there are many other ways to make putting something in a bin rewarding or fun.
A bin could make eating noises, indicating it just got fed. This could be especially useful with children, who surely would enjoy this kind of humour.
Incentivising people not to litter doesn’t have to cost money, but it could have a big impact.
The Right Messages For The Right Identities
Humans are social animals and we need to feel part of a group to be happy. This also means that we will adopt beahviours and values from the group. We can use this human characteristic to fight littering.
Most of us will belong to more than one group, such as friend group and family group. Knowing which group a person who litters feels attached to, means we can find ways to ndge them into changing their behaviour, according to science.
In practice, this could mean finding role models that can get the message out that littering is bad and not acceptable. Such role models could include footballers, musicians, influencers, and other celebraties.
Another part of identity is how people want to be perceived. People want to feel good about themselves. So the language used in anti-littering messaging needs to emphasise this.
If appropriate language for different identity groups are used and the right messengers are chosen, it could nudge people into changing their behaviour.
Litter Picking Plays A Part But Isn’t The Solution
Litter pick campaigns such as the Great British Spring Clean or more local events held by community groups or local councils are important.
To say people should stop doing them would be foolish. But they can’t solve the issue alone. To achieve this a concerted effort by different groups, including government, law enforcement, environmental charities, the education system, and people abe to influance others is needed.
What about us, the individuals who want to do their bit? Well, we can educate friends and family.
We can use our social media platforms to get out the message that littering has a huge environmental impact and encourage people not to do it.
Like with so many things that are rooted in our cultural behaviour, we all need to do our bit, however small that is. Small actions can have a big impact, especially if a large number of us take them.
Together we can make a difference and get litter off our streets and out of our oceans and keep them out, too.
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