Did you know that Keep Wales Tidy now has over 220 community litter picking hubs open across Wales?

Individuals, families, community groups as well as businesses can borrow litter picking equipment for free to clean up their local area.

The growing network of hubs offer equipment to carry out a safe clean-up. This includes litter pickers, hi-vis vests, rubbish bags and hoops set up as part of the Caru Cymru initiative.

During the first lockdown, all hubs closed but over the course of the past year they’ve reopened their doors now restrictions have eased.

Over 200 businesses throughout Wales signed up to the Caru Cymru Litter Free Zone scheme last year, utilising litter picking ups to borrow equipment for employees to use.

The number of businesses making use of the hubs over recent months has been growing steadily as well as appealing to many of these businesses to set up a litter hub themselves.

All litter hubs throughout Wales are mapped on Keep Wales Tidy’s website, making it easier for groups and individuals to borrow equipment from the local area.

One new business to become a litter hub is Zero Waste in Torfaen, Founder, Lauren Morse, said:

“We’re delighted to become a litter picking hub! Zero Waste Torfaen started as an eco-friendly refill station from the shed at the bottom of my garden and it has expanded into a full on zero waste shop. We’re trying to make a difference in Torfaen by reducing the amount of single use waste in the county. Lots of people working together to make small changes really does add up to something massive. If you’d like to make a difference to your community please pop in for eco-friendly food, household refills and to hire litter picking equipment.”

Oriel y Parc Visitor Centre are another example of a business that has helped champion the litter hubs, Services Manager, Claire Bates, said:

“It’s a pleasure to join this initiative, which aims to keep the places that have been so important to our physical and mental wellbeing over recent years clean and safe. Litter is not only a blight on our local area but has serious consequences for the wildlife that lives and thrives in our National Park. We all have a part to play in tackling this problem, and the new hub aims to provide just the tools for the job.”

Could your organisation join the network of Litter Picking Hubs?

Any business or organisation wishing to set up as a litter picking hub are asked to contact their local Project Officer at Keep Wales Tidy via their website page. You’ll receive full training, a guidance pack and litter picking equipment to allow you to see up as a hub.

Litter Free Zone

Businesses interested in cleaning up your local area, there’s still time to sign up as a Litter Free Zone, designed to encourage businesses to keep their communities’ litter-free and to raise public awareness.

Interested businesses are being asking them to register their interest on the Keep Wales Tidy website.