Litter picks

Great British Spring Clean

If you’ve made a pledge to pick a bag of litter for the Great British Spring Clean, you can collect Keep Britain Tidy-branded waste bags from your local library. Simply pop in and ask the staff for a pledge bag – please only take what you will use.

Please note the library staff are unable to lend any other litter picking equipment unless you are signed up to Adopt-a-Street.

You can lend equipment for small groups by registering an event on this page – please be aware we require a week’s notice to organise this for you. 

Collections for ten bags or more can be requested via Recycling&Waste@n-somerset.gov.uk. We do not have the resource to collect any less than ten bags so either team up with friends or take the litter home or to your local recycling centre.

You can litter pick as an individual or small group. Please follow the advice included on this page for community groups, or by joining our Adopt-a-Street scheme.

We only have a small amount of equipment available, so we can only lend the equipment to one group at a time. This is on a first come, first served basis.

Please contact us as early as possible before your event. 

We have litter picking equipment available which can be lent to community groups who want to arrange a litter pick on our land or land that we manage.

How to arrange a litter pick on our land

If you want to arrange a litter pick you’ll need to read and complete the documents below.

Residential areas

For litter picks in residential areas and streets email wasteman@n-somerset.gov.uk and title your email ‘litter picking in a residential area’. 

If you’re interested in arranging regular litter picks in residential areas, take a look at our adopt a street page.

Parks and Open Spaces

For litter picks in Parks and Open Space areas please email seafront.office@n-somerset.gov.uk and title your email ‘litter picking in parks and open spaces’.

Weston seafront

For litter picks along Weston seafront email seafront.office@n-somerset.gov.uk and title your email ‘litter picking along Weston seafront’.

'2 Minute Litter Pick' stations

The 2 Minute Foundation is a charity which operates a network of beach cleaning, litter picking, and street cleaning stations. This makes it easier for people to take action against litter.

Each station has a guardian, who is responsible for its day to day management. 

There are over 1,000 stations installed in locations across the UK and Ireland. You can find a station near you on the map on their website.

The stations are designed to encourage people to keep the area clean and tidy.

Portishead - Lake Grounds and Sailing Club

Turn the Tide Portishead have a number of ‘2 Minute Litter Pick’ stations in and around Portishead.

Three are located on council land - two at the Lake Grounds and one by the Sailing Club on the coastal path (near Ashdown Road).

Working in partnership with Turn the Tide, the Lido, Portishead Town Council, and the Sailing Club act as guardians to the stations.

Weston-super-Mare Marine Lake

A ‘2 Minute Litter Pick’ station was installed at Marine Lake in Weston-super-Mare in July 2022.

Installation was made possible thanks to North Somerset Council contractor Glendale Services who kindly sponsored the station.

The guardian of this station is the Weston-super-Mare Marine Lake Mudlarks.

Terms of use

  • ad-hoc events cover community/resident litter picks, corporate days, and events such as Keep Britain Tidy's ‘big spring clean’
  • our insurance will only cover residents working on our land/land that we manage, using our risk assessments. It does not cover anyone working on land not owned/managed by us and we cannot lend equipment in these circumstances
  • risk assessments must be adhered to, and our officers will spot check events
  • we can only support events on land that is safe to work on
  • we cannot support events or lend equipment to proposals that involve work in unsafe areas, for example, working on roads with speed limits over 30mph with no pavements
  • charities/corporate organisations carrying out work on our land are not covered by our insurance and will have to produce their own public liability insurance with a minimum value of £5m
    • risk assessments will also be required
    • the event will need to be booked in through our events team
  • events run in association with a friends group, such as a litter picking events or wassail, are covered by our insurance only if an event-specific risk assessment is produced and provided to the responsible officer for our files
  • event leaders are responsible for ensuring the risk assessment has been signed by all participants 
  • all participants under the age of 18 must be supervised by an adult at all times