Environment Champions is a voluntary scheme open to anyone that lives in Royal Greenwich who wants to help keep the borough clean and tidy. The aim of the scheme is to inspire people to take pride in their local environment and help us combat enviro-crime such as graffiti and fly-tipping by asking residents to become our ‘eyes and ears’.
Environment Champions may choose to do all or any of the following:
- Report dumped rubbish, litter, graffiti and other environmental issues directly to the Council.
- Litter-pick their local neighbourhood.
- Organise and participate in community clean-up events (in accordance with any COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time).
- Provide information if they have seen someone commit an enviro-crime.
- Form local environmental groups with your neighbours and friends.
What the Council will do:
- Send one household a litter pack.
- Help volunteers organise community clean-ups by supplying equipment and removing the rubbish collected on land that is managed or owned by Royal Greenwich.
- Send champions a regular e-newsletter with updates on our services and share the work volunteers have been doing. We will also pass on information about any national campaigns and local initiatives that may be of interest.
- Engage with households about how to recycle and dispose of waste properly.
What the Council cannot do:
- Remove rubbish from land or property we do not have a responsibility to maintain. If you wish to litter-pick land that is not owned or managed by Royal Greenwich, we advise that you seek the land owner’s permission beforehand and make arrangements with them to remove any rubbish gathered.
- Remove graffiti from private property without the permission of the owner (unless it is offensive or constitutes a hate crime).
Recycling
Recycling is something we can all do to help the environment. It is also important on a local level as it saves money by keeping the cost of waste treatment and disposal down. This is money that could be spent on other essential services. We encourage Environment Champions to separate any clean recyclable collected during litter picking (for example, newspapers, bottles and cans). We supply clear sacks to help you sort recycling from general waste.
For any advice and support please email, waste.advisors@royalgreenwich.gov.uk.