Love Where You Live
The Great British Spring Clean is the nation's biggest mass-action environmental campaign. Since 2016, our army of millions of amazing Litter Heroes has shown they love where they live by pledging to pick more than 4.5 million bags of litter.
The Great British Spring Clean and Great Big School Clean are back for 2026 and will take place from 13 to 29 March 2026. You can pledge to pick up a bag – or more – from Friday 13 February.
Can we count on you to help us clean up the places and spaces we care about?
Pledging for the Great British Spring Clean and the Great Big School Clean 2026 opens on Tuesday 13 February 2026
Ten years of action
Since 2016, we've been running the Great British Spring Clean
4.5 million bags pledged
Keeping the places and spaces we love litter free
An army of volunteers
Hundreds of thousands of Litter Heroes taking action on thier doorstep
How can you take part?
Every spring, we invite our community to join the Great British Spring Clean. Whether you are a seasoned pro, or new to litter picking, we've got all the information and advice you need to get started. You can:
- Join as a local authority to register to receive Great British Spring Clean litter bags, and tell us how you will support local volunteers
- Partner with us as business that wants to support at scale.
Take part as a local authority
From 14 February 2026, you can pledge to take part:
- As an individual, as part of a local group, with your colleagues, or as Keep Britain Tidy volunteer
- As part of the Great Big School Clean and receive a digital resources pack to help you talk to young people about the issue of litter.
How to take part
Join as a local authority
Join the Great British Spring Clean as a local authority. Sign up today and tell us how you will support Litter Heroes in your area.
Great Big School Clean
The Great Big School Clean is back! Join the nation's biggest mass action campaign, which takes place from 13-29 March 2026.
Great British Spring Clean Awards
Here's your chance to say a huge thank you to those who made a special impact during the Great British Spring Clean.
Why take part?
The Great British Spring Clean has been running since 2016, with more than 4.5 million bags of litter pledged to be picked during that time.
Here at Keep Britain Tidy HQ, we call it the nation's biggest mass-action environmental campaign, but what does mass action mean, who is involved and why should you take part?
Four and a half million bags of litter collected is the result of hundreds of thousands of Litter Heroes taking small, individual actions that add up to a huge difference.
Last year alone, more than 342,000 people took part including 265,000 school pupils.
Sometimes, the environmental challenges we face can seem huge. By working together and carrying out the same action, again and again, our incredible community has scaled grass roots activity in to mass action.
From Stirling to St Ives, Manchester to Margate, Tenby to Teesside, businesses, charities, community groups and schools and individuals are taking part.
88% feel part of a national movement to tackle litter
Each year, the general public and our army of Keep Britain Tidy Litter Heroes pledge to pick up a bag (or more!) on our website.
Meanwhile, businesses that believe, like us, that litter has no place on our doorstep are helping their workforce get out and take part. Take Bauer Outdoor for example, that have taken part every year since we began the Great British Spring Clean, and offer their staff a volunteering day to take part.
Community groups such as Scouts, Girl Guiding, and the Women’s Institute, take part in their droves.
Organisations such as the RSPCA, the Angling Trust, the Muslim Council of Britain that share our values and act to protect wildlife, animals, or demonstrate good citizenship and community leadership also take part.
Young people from schools and nurseries take part in the Great Big School Clean too.
This activity is supported by local authorities and town or parish councils who in many areas, loan litter-picking equipment and give away bags to local Litter Heroes. Last year, 485 local authorities and town or parish councils join us.
As part of our work to influence government on litter and the environment, we invite elected members, MPs and ministers to take part and connect with the issue of litter in their constituency. Last year 108 MPs and minister supported the campaign.
And finally, we work with partners and the media to tell the world about our work. Last year, more than 1,000 media articles were written or broadcast about the campaign, and it was promoted on digital billboards across the country thanks to our partnerships with Bauer Media Outdoor. We worked closely with Reach PLC, home of The Mirror, to promote the campaign and shine a light on our incredible volunteers.
Following last year's Great British Spring Clean, more than 97% of people surveyed by Keep Britain Tidy said they feel the environment belongs to everyone.
Almost 90% agreed that they love where they live
However, how we experience our local area can vary greatly depending on where we live. Our recent report, A Rubbish Reality revealed that seven in ten people (71%) in the most deprived areas agree that litter is a problem where they live, but this fell to just over half (56%) of those living in the least deprived areas. It is those in the most deprived areas who feel the impact of our ongoing litter problem the most, and we believe this is unfair.
71% of people in the most deprived areas agree that litter is a problem where they live
As a charity, Keep Britain Tidy is committed to eliminating litter so that everyone can love where they live. But we cannot do it alone.
We asked participants how they felt after taking part in the Great British Spring Clean and:
- 95% agreed they feel that they made a difference to their local area
- 90% agree they love where they live
- 88% agree they feel part of a national movement that is taking action to tackle litter.