Discos, dancing and dressing up

Quick ... think ... which one word summarises litter picking in your mind?

For #LitterHeroes Pier2Pier Beach Clean in Brighton, that word would be FUN!

Why simply litter pick when you can play bingo, have a boogie or dress up as a mermaid at the same time?

Why go it alone when you can encourage hundreds of others to get involved too?

Why stay quiet when you can shout far and wide about what you are doing and why?

The achievements and impact of all our #LitterHeroes are fantastic – and together we are making such a difference. But the story of this group really made us smile – with their wacky new ideas and their fun approach to helping their local patch.

At only over a year old, this group is booming. Here are some of our favourite Pier2Pier beach cleans…

The beach clean bingo bonanza: With a litter picker in one hand, and a bingo card in the other, everyone rushed the beach to hunt for litter treasure and win prizes.

The silent disco beach clean: the first-ever of it’s kind, over 100 people took to the beach to dance and laugh as they picked – collecting a staggering 280kg of rubbish. (Not heard of it? A silent disco has everyone wearing wireless bluetooth headphones and tuning into the same music and MC). The event proved so popular that Pier2Pier are now supporting others around the country to have a go too.

The HallowClean: Over 150 ghosts and ghouls picked as they danced (to the monster mash – what else?), collecting a truly scary 350kg of rubbish and swopping their litter for Halloween treats.

As you’d imagine, clean-ups like this (and the huge impact the group is already making) are really drawing attention. The group’s enthusiastic and dedicated organisers are working hard to spread the word about the impacts of litter, inspire others and help even more people get involved.

We asked Amy - one of the group's fantastic organisers - to share her message for anyone tempted to get involved in litter picking, 

"sometimes the overwhelming scale of the litter problem can leave us feeling a bit hopeless. But beach cleaning helps us to regain a sense of power to take control and be part of the solution - and we can do this from whichever corner of the world we find ourselves in.

We have heard from so many people about how much fun they had, how mindful they found the experience and how many new friends they made on their first ever beach clean - and they keep coming back! This is a wonderful community of people giving back to our planet and it's fun for everyone". 

With even more planned for 2019, including getting involved in our Great British Spring Clean, this group are one to watch. True #LitterHeroes, thank you for bringing the fun.