Birmingham City Council and their waste contractor, Veolia have joined forces with behaviour change charity Hubbub, to launch a new and innovative anti-litter campaign.
Part of the council’s wider Cleaner Greener Streets campaign, this initiative will focus on night time littering and aims to prevent football fans from throwing their rubbish on the street during this summer’s European Championships games.
Littering is a real strain for local business owners especially during the summer months. That is why residents, shopkeepers and business owners in New Street and Broad Street have joined together to address the issue of litter on two of the most challenging streets in the City Centre where the average daily footfall on New Street is 250K and the Broad Street night economy attracts thousands each night.
Funded by a coalition of businesses including Veolia and the council, this is the first time that the such organisations have joined forces to tackle night time and football-related littering in the area. Initial observations on the street have identified that cigarettes, chewing gum, flyers and fast food are the most frequently littered items.
Toby Terlet, General Manager for Veolia, the City’s waste management partner said: “Veolia are delighted to be supporting this litter campaign. Any influence we have to reduce litter within Birmingham will not only set an example to the younger generations but also reduce the negative impact on our natural resources. We are becoming 'neutralised' to litter covering our streets and parks and the idea that "someone else will clean it up" is not acceptable. As a community, we need to work with our partners to change this behaviour and leave this wonderful city in a better state. The 'Cleaner Greener Street’ campaign will be an important step to challenge behaviours and improve the sensitive environment we all live in.”
The campaign will also see the introduction of the ‘Ballot Bin’. The voting ashtray nudges smokers to vote with their cigarette butts on questions which can be tailored locally or to topical events. Initially Ballot Bins will be asking smokers, ‘Can England win the Euros?’.
New research from Hubbub shows that nearly one in ten people in Birmingham thinks dropping a cigarette on the floor doesn’t count as littering and one in ten people in Birmingham are more likely to drop litter on a night out.
Every year it costs Birmingham City Council in excess of £1M per annum to deal with litter, fly-tipping and street cleansing in the city centre.
This is the first of series of interventions which will be introduced on New Street and Broad Street over the next five months to prevent litter using positive, interactive messages. It based on a campaign which was trialed in a street in Westminster, London last year and reduced littering by 26%.
By rallying together, the business community wants to fight against litter and to support each other.
Alan Walker, staff of Wetherspoons on Broad Street: “I would say, a clean city centre it is detrimental to good business. When people leave litter around, it really puts people off coming to Broad Street.
Other results from Hubbub’s survey shows that 45% of people in the Birmingham area say that they often end up clearing up other people’s litter. Also, 57% said that they would be afraid to confront people who drop litter. 81% of people say that seeing litter on the streets in their local area makes them feel angry and frustrated.
Trewin Restorick, Hubbub’s Founder and CEO, said: “This initiative will test innovative ways to prevent litter, trying these new interventions for the first time in Birmingham. We will introduce best practice from around the world and we’re delighted to have brought together this unique collaboration of organisations to tackle this important issue.”
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling and Environment, said: “We know cleaner greener streets are a top priority for citizens and businesses in Birmingham – so it is fantastic that traders and organisations are coming together to work in partnership with us to make the city centre as attractive and welcoming as possible to all visitors. Through this latest initiative, we’ll see a number of interactive and fun ways for people to help us achieve this aim. Watch this space in the weeks ahead!”
For further information on the Cleaner Greener Streets Campaign click here.