In March, Essex Wildlife Trust launched Spring Pickers, a new campaign to tackle litter in Essex.

From 9 – 18 March, the public were urged to sign up to become a Spring Picker and pick up 5 pieces of litter every day for 10 days and clean up the county before spring arrives.

Litter and plastic pollution have far-reaching impacts on wildlife. Wildlife can get entangled in litter, hurt themselves on sharp discarded items and ingest litter, with harmful consequences.

Originally hoping that 100 people will get involved, this target was far surpassed as the Trust reports almost five times this number of people signing up to take part, with 477 total sign-ups by the end of the campaign.

Sign-ups included individuals, schools, nurseries, businesses, children’s activity groups, walking groups and existing litter picking groups.

Libraries and community hubs also pledged their support, including Halstead Library, Rochford Library and Sible Hedingham Library offering free litter picking equipment to those taking part.

With almost 500 participants, the Trust reports that at least 23,850 pieces of litter were cleaned up from the environment during the campaign.

Gemma Cosson, Campaigns Assistant for Essex Wildlife Trust, says:

“Thanks to Spring Pickers, our wildlife will be sharing its home with almost 24,000 less pieces of litter. We have been overwhelmed with the efforts made to clean up our county, with many individuals and groups going above and beyond the five pieces a day target. Litter can have detrimental impacts across all species and habitats, so it’s fantastic to see people taking action against such a huge environmental issue. Due to the vast enthusiasm for Spring Pickers, we look forward to running the campaign again next year.”

South East Essex Ramblers, participants in the Spring Pickers campaign, added:

“All members were quite enthusiastic about this campaign. All sorts of things were found including bubble wrap, cans and plastic. On all four walks conducted for Spring Pickers, the group did their best, although some only scratched the surface. On one walk, the group reported seeing school children picking up litter as well, so the campaign was getting around. We ensured that all litter was disposed of in the correct manner!”