Litter Lotto in Buckinghamshire Encourages People to ‘Bin It To Win It’

You’ve heard of the postcode lottery and the health lottery, but what about a litter lottery? Buckinghamshire Council is offering residents who bin their rubbish the chance to win a cash prize via LitterLotto.

What is LitterLotto?

Buckinghamshire Council has worked with LitterLotto, a free-to-enter prize draw, since its UK launch in 2021. LitterLotto has since launched a new initiative that offers an extra monthly prize for residents who bin their waste.

How Does LitterLotto Work?

To land a prize in the litter lottery, residents use an app to take a picture of the litter as they put it in a bin. Every new piece of litter they bin is another chance to win. They get the satisfaction of knowing that more rubbish is going into the bin where it should be. Not to mention a £250 extra monthly prize is available for those who ‘bin it to win it.’

The Cost Of Picking Up Litter

Is it worth getting involved in a litter lottery in your area? 100% yes, says Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, Gareth Williams.

 “We spend £2.5million cleaning the streets of Buckinghamshire and unfortunately, much of the tidying up is picking up litter, despite having over 4,000 bins emptied regularly across the county.

This is a pattern that’s repeated across the UK. However, the council is hopeful that rewarding people for doing the right thing will pay off.

"With the new LitterLotto Local initiative, we want to encourage people to protect their surroundings and reward the right behaviour. If we can get more litter in bins, we can save some money that we are currently spending litter picking and divert it to other projects or services.”

Creating a Beautiful Buckinghamshire

The founder and chief executive of LitterLotto, David Landsberg, said the organisation is happy to partner with Buckinghamshire Council to ‘create a beautiful Buckinghamshire’.

"We’re proud to be working with Buckinghamshire Council to launch our new LitterLotto Local initiative. We’re looking forward to working with them to create an even more beautiful Buckinghamshire, with less litter."

The new initiative will run across the country for 12 months. If you’d like more details about LitterLotto, you can email Buckinghamshire council to receive an information pack.

What is the Litter Situation in the UK?

Are initiatives like a litter lottery worth it? Anything that ensures that more rubbish ends up in the bin is worth the effort. Consider these facts about the current litter situation in the UK.

• During the Great British Beach Clean in 2018, 642 items of litter were found per 100m of beach. The most commonly littered items were:
• Small bits of plastic and polystyrene - 215 items per 100 metres.
• Cigarette stubs - 46 items per 100 metres.
• Packets (crisps, sweets, lolly, sandwich) - 39 items per 100 metres.
• People using the ‘Love Clean Streets’ app reported 11,300 incidents of littering in 2018-19. This was across 122 local authorities.
• In 2018-19, it cost local authorities £699 million or £30 per household to keep our streets clean.
• In a 2018-19 survey, 28% of people said there was a ‘very or fairly big problem’ with litter and rubbish in their area.

Source: Gov.uk

Litter is a problem that’s everyone’s business. Would a litter lottery or other initiative make you more likely to bin your waste, or do you just do it anyway? We’d love to know. For more interesting articles on litter and the environment, check out the rest of our blog.