CPRE’s Green Clean helps clean up the countryside

CPRE is mobilising almost 20 local CPRE groups, in partnership with other local community groups and volunteers, to clean up local green spaces and countryside as part of its nationwide Green Clean.

The organisation says evidence from the Green Clean will be used to highlight the urgent need for a deposit return system that includes drinks cans, plastic and glass bottles, cartons and pouches of all sizes.

Running for one month this September, and with events taking place from Somerset to Northumberland, the countryside charity wants as many people as possible to get involved in their local Green Clean events and help improve their local environment.

Last year, litter pickers collected hundreds of bags of litter and over 11,000 drinks bottles and cans, of all shapes, sizes and materials. This not only helped to transform local green spaces across the country, but also demonstrated that drinks containers of all kinds are left polluting the natural world supporting the need for an ‘all-in’ deposit return system.

This evidence, which was submitted during the government’s consultation, contributed to making the case to former Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, who recently gave his backing to an ‘all-in’ system, stating that, ‘an “all-in” model will give consumers the greatest possible incentive to recycle’. 

With a new Environment Secretary, Theresa Villiers, now in post, CPRE will use this year’s Green Clean to demonstrate that the problem still persists, and urge the new Secretary of State to pick up where her predecessor left off, introducing the best possible scheme as swiftly as possible.

Maddy Haughton-Boakes, Campaign Lead at CPRE, said: “Last year we collected a staggering number of harmful drinks cans, bottles, cartons and pouches, demonstrating how vital it is that every single type of drinks container is included England’s deposit return system. That small financial incentive will stop them from being littered, making such a huge difference to our environment and wildlife.”