Wrigley Launch National Litter Less Campaign

Children and young people from across Scotland are readying themselves to participate in the 2016 international Litter Less campaign, which will see school pupils countrywide take their activities on local litter issues beyond the school gate and bring forward big changes in their own communities. All Scottish schools are invited to sign up to the initiative. Upon registration they will receive a £300 grant and registered teachers will get the opportunity to participate in a new professional learning course.

The Litter Less campaign involves youngsters in making significant environmental improvements in the places they love in their own villages, towns and cities – from playgrounds and local parks to beaches and community woodlands.

Litter Less is an annual campaign organised in Scotland by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful on behalf of the Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) and sponsored by the Wrigley Company Foundation. Litter Less activities will run throughout the whole year and are being delivered as part of the Eco-Schools programmes in 25 countries worldwide, including Scotland.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has been running the campaign for four years, and in that time almost 70 schools have participated. Images of previous entrants can be found here.

Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful said:

“The Litter Less campaign has been particularly successful in encouraging Scottish children and young people to take a proactive interest in litter, littering behaviour and campaigns to reduce it.

“The Eco-Schools Scotland programme reaches more than 800,000 children and young people across the country and litter is a key theme of activity. Keep Scotland Beautiful is committed to supporting all of our teachers and educators, which is why we have developed a professional learning course on our Litter Less work, the first of which we ran in The Tall Ship at the Riverside Museum, Glasgow on the 27th January.

“By supporting our teachers we believe we are helping our children and young people to develop the capabilities, skills and attributes required for learning, living and working in a changing world and a global context.”

The Litter Less campaign aims to help educate children on the issues surrounding litter and encourage them to make positive choices – whilst achieving a marked reduction in the global litter problem.

Brid Conneely, International Eco-Schools Director at the Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) said:

“Together with the Wrigley Company Foundation, we are able to help young people around the world become more aware of environmental issues and encourage them to make better choices.

“Through the Litter Less campaign, countries across the world are increasing the level of interest and awareness in the topic of litter and waste as well as in the proper disposal of litter by students in school and neighbourhood settings.

“One of the most important aspects of the campaign is measuring students’ knowledge and changes in behaviour. We can observe a tendency for students who actively participate in those kinds of activities to show higher opinion leadership and a better understanding of the issues around litter. We hope to educate whole communities and build a conscious society across the world through this campaign.”

To register to take part in the Litter Less campaigns schools can sign up at ecoschools@keepscotlandbeautiful.org.

Further details on previous Litter Less activities can be found at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/litterless