Gather insight

Spotting a litter problem is easy, but figuring out the best way to handle it?

Not so much. Investing a bit of time in research can save you headaches later.

Here’s some ways to gather initial insight:

• Learn from the past: Explore what's been tried before in your area or on similar issue. Check out our case studies for a range of campaigns, as well as Keep Britain Tidy, Keep Scotland Beautiful and overseas.

• Speak to people: do surveys, interviews and focus groups so you can understand their behaviours and attitudes to littering in more detail.

• Hit the streets: there’s often a gap between what people say and what they actually do. Step away from the desk, grab your bin-oculars and see what’s going on.

• Quantify the problem: Do a litter survey, capture images, there’s safety in numbers!

• Talk to the pros: Collect information from those who spend the most time on the street, such as the street cleaning operatives, waste management or collection teams who know the lay of the land.

How to know you’ve collected enough insight?

If you think you can fill in the paragraph below, and it’s not based on assumptions, you know you’re onto the right track:

We know that [specific type of litter] is often discarded at [specific location], and the primary audience for this is [audience].

We've identified that this problem is particularly prevalent during [specific time of day, season or time of year].

Insights gathered from [surveys, interviews, observations, and conversations] indicate that [specific issue, e.g., lack of bins or awareness on a topic] is a significant concern.