Schoolchildren Tidy Up

In October 2008, over 20 year five and six pupils from King’s Road Primary School in Old Trafford, Manchester, braved the winter weather to take part in a Big Tidy Up.

Their efforts resulted in 20 bags of rubbish being cleared during an hour-long litter pick on the residential roads surrounding the school. The majority of pupils chose to tidy up their routes to school and were surprised by how many sweet wrappers, drinks cans and cigarette butts they found.

Before starting the litter pick, the youngsters were briefed on the possible dangers and the types of litter they might find. Their tidy up was then supervised by their teachers, a Community Liaison Worker from Emerge Recycling and an Education Officer from Trafford Council’s Cleaner Safer Greener Team.

After the event, teachers said they hoped the enthusiasm of the pupils taking part would discourage them from dropping rubbish in the future and would inspire them to take anti-littering messages home to their families.