Councillors team up to clean up Bristol to launch Autumn Litter Blitz
Bringing the sparkle back to Stokes Croft streets
Councillors from across Bristol and the city’s different political groups joined forces on 17 October to pick litter and celebrate the launch of our Autumn Litter Blitz! The Autumn Litter Blitz is an annual Bristol Waste campaign to encourage residents to give litter picking a go.
Teaming up to clean up
This year’s campaign focuses on the power of community. Litter picking can bring together friends, family, neighbours and colleagues in a single goal to clean up our neighbourhoods.
Attended by the Lord Mayor Andrew Varney, Bristol Waste’s new managing director Richard Williams, and councillors representing Ashley, Cotham and Bishopston, Redland, and Brislington West, the litter pickers collected 14 bags of waste from Stoke Croft streets.
An ongoing effort to keep Bristol clean
During last year’s Autumn Litter Blitz, over 250 volunteers took part in 79 litter picks and collected 331 bags of litter. That’s 47 more than 2022’s total.
The campaign has gone from strength to strength, and just in the past 3 years, over 1,000 bags of litter have been collected by enthusiastic volunteers. Free kits are provided by Bristol Waste’s community engagement team, who supply thousands of residents with pickers, bags and hoops every year.
We run multiple campaigns to tackle litter, from harbourside on-the-go recycling bins to the Big Tidy project which has helped form local litter picking groups, but the issue of litter remains ongoing. An unbelievable two million pieces of litter are dropped every day in the UK, wreaking havoc on the natural environment and habitats. Across the city, we collect around 3,700 tonnes of litter every year. That’s the same weight as two SS Great Britain’s or 300 double decker buses!
Get involved
If you want to join in with the Autumn Litter Blitz, it’s easy to get involved. Visit our campaign page below to book your kit, find fellow litter pickers and health and safety advice.
