You can now 'adopt' your local area to help keep it litter free. This can be your street, neighbourhood or even dog walking route.
Adopting your area means that you are providing your area with some extra love and attention and keeping it litter free. Our usual street cleansing operations will continue as normal.
You choose how often you want to do this and which area you cover. All you need to do is tell us that area you would like to cover and how regularly you think you might litter pick it (this will give us an idea about the amount of litter you might be collecting).
How we support you
When you pledge to adopt your area, we will provide you with a litter picking pack. We have 100 kits to give out, kindly donated by Urbaser.
The pack includes:
- a litter picker
- a high vis vest
- a guide to safe litter picking
- litter picking bags
We can provide you with the sacks and remove the litter on your refuse collection day.
You can also purchase your own equipment from many high street DIY stores or from Keep Britain Tidy.
We will provide support on what to do if you come across any flytipping or items you cannot litter pick.
Apply online
To adopt an area, complete this application form:
What to do with picked litter
Place any litter you pick in to your normal refuse bin.
If the litter does not fit in your refuse bin, then place it at the side of your bin on your scheduled fortnightly collection, in the bags provided to you. Our crews will know you are an ‘adopt an area’ volunteer and they will remove the bags at the point of collection. Make sure you use the bags issued to you. Do not place broken glass in these bags.
Please do not put out more than three bags of litter picked material per fortnight. If you find you collect more than this, we may need to make a separate collection arrangement with you.
If you can, place any recyclable materials into your recycling bin. This includes cans, tins, plastic bottles, dry paper and cardboard. We cannot collect recyclable materials in plastic bags. We can issue you with an additional kerbside box for litter picked recyclables.
If you experience a problem with the removal of materials, contact us by emailing wasteandrecycling@north-herts.gov.uk
Safety
Your safety is our main concern. Please read the guidance included in the application on how to litter pick safely.
Remember the following points at all times:
- only pick on public land – no garage areas, private land or land managed by housing associations
- keep away from slippery, steep or crumbling banks
- if you are litter picking along road sides, wear hi-vis and only do this where there is a dedicated footpath
- only include cans, tins, plastic bottles, dry paper and cardboard for recycling
- glass should not be put in bags for collection (broken glass can cut through the bag and potentially cut you or one of the collection staff)
- always pick items one-by-one with the equipment - do not scoop handfuls of litter as this may contain needles or sharp objects
- only pick items which can fit inside the bags provided - anything larger (such as fridges, tyres, gas bottles etc.) should be left and reported to the council for removal
If you are litter picking alone please consider carefully where you will be going and at what time. Do not litter pick in the dark.