Exercise, Fresh Air & Nature

It can be difficult to make time to exercise with all of the pressures that we face in modern day life. Being outside, connecting with nature and exercising can improve mental health and your general well-being. So joining a regular litter picking group provides an excellent opportunity to help relieve your stress levels by getting you outside in the fresh air and participating in exercise, which can be as gentle or as vigorous as you like!


This link with nature, in particular, is thought to be very nurturing and stress relieving. Litter picking can give you a opportunity to get out there,see some of the beautiful wildflowers and animals that you might not previously have come across, whilst also helping the environment and taking social responsibility.


Connecting with your Community

Positive social interactions can lead to increased self-esteem and confidence, whilst limiting loneliness and stress, which is becoming increasingly problematic in our society. Being part of a litter picking group enables you to talk and interact with a range of people, both those picking with you, and passers-by who often stop for a chat and are appreciative of your efforts. Connecting with others, feeling supported and integrating yourself into your local community can help well-being. By improving an area it also helps everyone to have greater pride in your surroundings, as it creates a more positive atmosphere and image for your locality. This in turn works as a deterrent to criminal activity, as a well looked after area shows that people care, thus making it a less attractive area for criminals to target.

It is well documented that if an area has litter on the ground then more litter will be dropped, so what may have been a small sweet wrapper can soon escalate into a more litter covered area. Breaking this cycle by litter picking can make an instant difference and a noticeable change to attitudes in the area.

Protection & Safety

Animals can become trapped inside bottles, cut themselves on sharp objects or get tangled up in plastic that have been discarded. According to the RSPCA tens of thousands of animals are killed each year because of littering. This is devastating for our environment as a whole and is contributing to the strain on our ecosystem.

It is not just animals that suffer from litter either. Often humans can injure themselves on broken glass, plastics or other sharp items, that have not been disposed of properly. Food waste that is incorrectly disposed of can also lead to a greater amount of vermin in a given area that can carry diseases and cause further mess.

Keeping areas clean and tidy by clearing up litter helps to protect us and our environment from harm.