Neat Streets
From flash-mobs to talking bins, and from naked bin men to chewing gum art, Neat Streets tests different playful ways to reduce litter on UK highstreets.
Originally piloted on Villiers Street, Central London in 2015, Neat Streets expanded to the streets of Sutton, Manchester and Edinburgh, trialling eye catching and engaging interventions tailored to a range of litter types, from cigarette butts and chewing gum to general waste.
The campaign also informed the Love Your Forest campaign in the Forest of Dean and ‘Streets Ahead’ in Brighton.
The problem
Hubbub’s 2015 and 2016 public polling indicated that a staggering 86% of people think littering is a disgusting habit yet only 15% of us would actually confront someone and tell them that. Alongside this, dealing with litter costs taxpayers around £700 million a year (Gov.uk, 2021), Neat Streets aimed to target and reduce litter commonly found on our streets.
Our approach
Westminster, London
The original Neat Streets project ran for five months in 2015 on Villers Street, Westminster. A range of interventions to engage different audiences regularly using the streets (such as residents, commuters, tourists and the nightlife community) were tested focussing on specific litter issues. These included:
The launch of the OG ballot bin, a ‘butts out’ installation, portable ashtrays, and a fumo smokers ashtray pole to target cigarette litter
Gum Drop Ltd bins and an interactive gum display to tackle chewing gum
Brightly coloured bins, a flash mob, poster campaign and actors from the Ministry of Fun in ‘naked bin men’ costumes to target general litter
Sutton, London
Our second Neat Streets campaign, ‘Clean Streets Sutton’, took place March-May 2016 in conjunction with Sutton Council. Successful interventions from the original Villiers Street campaign were replicated, including the installation of colourful bins, ballot bins, and Gum Drop Ltd bins, a month-long gum litter awareness campaign and community photo gallery, alongside a super-hero themed PR stunt.
Edinburgh
In Scotland, Neat Streets targeted the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh, and ran from April-October 2016. The campaign focused on increasing local pride and increasing visibility of bins to support people to dispose of litter. Specific litter types were targeted as part of the campaign, such as leaflet litter from the Fringe festival and cigarette litter.
Manchester
Meanwhile in Manchester, the 'Trash Talk' campaign, in collaboration with Manchester City Council and local environmental charity Groundwork MSSTT, ran between June-December 2016. This campaign primarily targeted general litter and interventions trialled included a community photo gallery, cigarette messaging on floor vinyls, ballot bins, coffee cup recycling bins and voting litter bins (a predecessor of the Big Ballot Bin).
^ photos of different interventions
The impact
Westminster, London
This five-month campaign saw a 26% reduction in litter on Villiers Street between the start and end of the project. Behavioural observations also suggested that rates of littering behaviour decreased by 16% from before to during the campaign.
Sutton, London
Sutton High Street saw a 22% drop in litter from the middle to end of the campaign. Neat Streets Sutton reduced cigarette litter by 30% and chewing gum litter by 68%.
“The colourful bins and the poster campaign have been a real talking point… but the biggest impact has been the Ballot Bins reducing the cigarette litter around the pubs where they are installed by at least 80%.” - Barry Hart, Cleansing Team, Sutton Council.
Edinburgh
In Edinburgh, 81% of people had seen one or more of the Neat Streets interventions that were rolled out as part of the campaign. The bright voting bins proved to be the most successful, with a 24% increase in use.
“We were able to explore new and innovative ways of encouraging the public to dispose of their rubbish responsibly, helping to create a more tidy and welcoming environment for everyone.” - Councillor Lesley Hinds, Edinburgh
Manchester
Trash Talk saw a 22% reduction in litter (excluding cigarette litter) on Oxford Street, Manchester. However, construction work taking place in the area during the campaign resulted in a significant shift in litter distribution, with some increase in litter occurring at some sites.
