Community litter picking

There is information on this page on how you can help safely with litter picking in the New Forest district.

New Forest Spring Clean

This year's New Forest Spring Clean will take place from 17 March to 2 April, as a part of Keep Britain Tidy's Great British Spring Clean. 

This year's campaign is all focusing on the pride litter heroes have for their local community. You get involved by pledging to pick up a bag or litter, or more, on the Great British Spring Clean webpage. 

We can support your event by lending equipment, supplying rubbish sacks and arranging to collect waste after your litter pick. See below for more details.  

Family and individual litter picks

If you and your family would like to do some litter picking, the New Forest National Park Authority have free litter picking kits as part of their New Forest Ambassador Scheme. Each kit includes a litter picking guide, rubbish sacks, a hi-vis vest and a litter grabber.

Get more information and sign up at New Forest Ambassador scheme - New Forest National Park Authority (newforestnpa.gov.uk)

Groups and organised events

We can help people who want to volunteer to organise a litter pick on behalf of a group.

This could be a beach clean or a tidy-up of your local neighbourhood, park or school.

We can lend litter picking equipment, including litter grabbers and hi-vis vests.

We can also supply sacks, and if needed, collect the rubbish from an agreed location after the event.

Litter pick organisers and volunteers are not working for or acting on behalf of the council. They are not covered by the council's Liability Insurance.

Plan your community litter pick

As the litter pick organiser, it is your responsibility to do all of the following:

• check who owns the land where you plan to litter pick, and ask their permission
• visit the site or area and carry out a risk assessment
• read our health and safety guidance to ensure your litter picking activity falls within our guidelines.

Health and safety guidance

Your safety and that of your volunteers comes first. We can only provide support for community litter picking activity that complies with our health and safety guidance.

Read the Health and safety guidance for community litter picking

It is the litter pick organiser's responsibility to brief all volunteers on the guidance, and ensure it is followed by everyone taking part throughout the duration of the litter pick.

Support for litter picking

We can help your litter pick by providing the following support.

• lending litter grabbers and hi-vis vests for volunteers (maximum 30 per group)
• providing black and clear rubbish sacks for the litter (maximum 2 rolls of each per group)
• providing a health and safety guidance sheet for all volunteers (We will provide you with a PDF and it is your responsibility to share this with your group)
• collecting the rubbish sacks after your litter pick from an agreed location.

Request support for a community litter pick 

We cannot lend any equipment long term or provide support for unplanned litter picks. We have a limited supply of litter equipment so please return promptly when you're finished.

Please do not email or call for support until you have completed the request form.

Our resources are limited, so we cannot guarantee that we can support your litter pick.

We'll be in touch within ten working days to confirm whether we can provide support for your litter pick.

Submitting a request does not automatically confirm we can support you.

Any support is given entirely at our discretion.

If you are carrying out a litter pick using your own equipment, you and your group can take a small amount of waste home and leave it with your household waste on your normal kerbside collection day.

Local and national litter picking resources 

Below are some examples of local and national litter picking resources. You may also find information and local community litter picking groups by searching online search engines and social media groups.

• New Forest Ambassador scheme - New Forest National Park Authority (newforestnpa.gov.uk), find information on New Forest National Park Authority's litter picking ambassador scheme
• Solent Plastics Pollution Hub (solentforum.org), a part of The Solent Forum, the Solent Plastics Pollution Hub provides information and resources to support people across the Solent to litter pick and tackle plastic pollution
• Keep Britain Tidy (keepbritaintidy.org), a national charity which runs volunteer projects and campaigns to eliminate litter, and waste, and improve places
• CleanupUK (cleanupuk.org.uk), a national charity which provides information and support to litter picking volunteers