New Forest District Council

Getting Crabby about litter in the New Forest

For Local Authority

Making it easy to do the right thing proved a successful approach for litterbugs in New Forest coastal locations. Faced with an influx of visitors to the area’s beaches, the Council faced a post-pandemic challenge of staycationers seeking open spaces to eat and socialise.

Identifying that convenience is key to those who might drop litter, our intervention saw novel messaging and imagery at seafront locations combined with highly visible refuse sack dispensers. Despite peak visitor numbers the popular approach saved over £10,000 over one month during the key summer period and is being rolled out more widely.

With a framework for future interventions that can be applied across forest and coastal settings the Council has a solid evidence base for multi-year activity targeting the scourge of litter.

You can read more about this intervention on the LGA’s website.