Love Your Forest
If you’d gone down to the woods between 2016-2021, you'd have been in for a big surprise… our Love Your Forest rural littering campaign.
This six-year project saw us work with a range of partners in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, engaging visitors and local people on the impacts of littering through a variety of surprising events.
The goal was to encourage them to become ambassadors for their forest, with an aim to reduce litter in the area while boosting recycling rates.
The problem
The Forest of Dean is situated between the Rivers Wye and Severn and is one of the UK’s few surviving ancient woodlands.
Whilst the population of the Forest of Dean’s is less than 90,000 (Office for National Statistics, 2023), every year an additional 350,000 visitors visit the area to enjoy its natural beauty. Unfortunately, this also comes with problems.
Each year, 250 tonnes of rubbish are collected from the Forest of Dean – the equivalent of three full black sacks of rubbish per kilometre of roads cleaned – costing local taxpayers over £450,000.
Our approach
Through #LoveYourForest we trialled a range of activities and interventions across the forest, engaging with a cross section of the community (school, Scout and Girl Guide groups, mountain bikers, motorists and members of the public) on the issue of waste and littering, aiming to:
Build on the pride local people have in the forest
Investigate the impact that recycling communications and new infrastructure can have in a rural community
Demonstrate that local collaboration between local authority, organisations and business can deliver positive change
Activities and interventions we tested included:
A pop-up litter shop displaying 33-year-old litter collected from the forest floor, reminding people how long litter can stick around for;
Over 50 watchful ‘Communitrees’ designed by local children, ‘Litter Critters’ and ‘Litter Creatures’ were hidden in remote parts of the forest, acting as watchful eyes to nudge people to take their litter home. This intervention was based on research that suggests our behaviour is very different when we’re being watched, in comparison to when we’re acting unobserved.
The ‘Trashconverter’ which invited members of the public to swap their trash for treats, rewarding them for positive behaviour. The ‘Trashconverter’ attended a variety of events, schools and businesses around the Forest of Dean.
The introduction of new recycling bins and waste station in town, alongside two recycle-reward machines that aimed to experiment with a lottery to encourage people to recycle their empty bottles and cans.
Mountain bikers in the Forest of Dean signed a litter-free pledge and helped create art installations to increase awareness of responsible disposal of rubbish. Litter signage, tailored to the mountain biking community was also installed in the forest to nudge bikers to hold onto their rubbish.
Photos of the interventions & activities that happened as part of Love Your Forest
The impact
Over the project’s six years we collaborated with 18 schools and 38 local businesses to run the campaign, while over 11,000 people took part in #LoveYourForest activities and events.
70% of people interviewed about the pop-up litter shop thought the shop effectively raised awareness on the issue of littering.
Some sites where ‘Communitrees’, ‘Litter Critters’ and ‘Litter Creatures’ were installed saw a reduction of up to 30% in litter levels and 95% of respondents to a 2017 survey thought the ‘Communitrees’ communicated a clear anti-littering message.
However, for lasting impact, we’d recommend incorporating additional messaging/interventions alongside ‘Communitrees’, as litter data analysis from a ‘Communitrees’ impact test at a picnic site in 2017 suggested ‘Communitrees’ alone were not enough to curb the influx of litter durning peak visitor seasons.
The ‘Trashconverter’ resulted in the collection of over 1,200 bags of litter from the forest between 2016-2021 (alongside litter picking activities as part of the Love Your Forest campaign).
100% of respondents to a 2018 questionnaire agreed the ‘Trashconverter’ had a clear anti-littering message.
While 88% agreed this intervention made them feel pride in the Forest of Dean and 70% learnt something new about the impacts of littering.
96% visitors planned to change their behaviour, such as by using more reusable items, taking part in a litter pick or taking their litter home after visiting the ‘Trashconverter’.
Between 2020-2021, 1840 cans and 935 plastic bottles were recycled through the two recycle-reward machines.
