Leisurely litter pick bags 25-year-old crisp packet

Heading off from Windrush Leisure Centre, staff from Better and West Oxfordshire District Council took to the streets of Witney this week to show their support for the nation’s biggest litter picking event and stand with others across the country who will be busy clearing up their neighbourhoods to protect the environment for this year’s campaign. 

Alongside an assortment of metal drinks cans, bottles, confectionary wrappers and cigarette paraphernalia, the volunteers also collected a large quantity of crisp packets. 

Among the oldest to be discovered was a packet of Walker’s ‘Cheese and Owen’ crisps, a flavour marketed back in 1999 featuring footballing stars Michael Owen and Gary Lineker. Remarkably well-preserved a quarter of a century on, the brightly-coloured crisp packet is a stark reminder of just how long litter lasts in the environment.  

Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for Environment at West Oxfordshire District Council, said: “We’ve been delighted to help kick off this year’s Spring Clean in partnership with our colleagues at Better, and we know many parish councils and community groups are planning their litter picks too. We hope even more people will be inspired to act.

"Litter can last an extraordinarily long time and retro rubbish, discarded many years, even many decades, ago is still harming our environment now. It’s staggering to think that a crisp packet dropped today could still be in our environment in the year 2100 but other commonly littered items are expected to last much longer. So, whether it’s picking up a few bits or a few bags, we’re encouraging everyone to get involved and make their pledge to pick for this year’s campaign.” 

Estimates suggest that plastic bottles could survive 450 years while metal drink cans could take up to 200 years to fully breakdown. 

In total the volunteers collected 12 bags of litter from Witan Way and surrounding streets.  

The District Council will again pick up bags of litter collected during and after this year’s Spring Clean event. And, to help people pick up litter safely, the council is continuing to loan out litter grabbers. 

In addition to litter pickers, residents and groups can request an initial supply of sacks to get their litter picks underway.  

To request equipment, either for a one-off event or for longer, contact the West Oxfordshire District Council’s customer services team on: [email protected]. Equipment will then be made available to collect from the District Council’s Welch Way Town Centre Shop, Witney. 

The Great British Spring Clean, spearheaded by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is billed as the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign.  

Last year, UK residents pledged to pick up 400,000 bags of litter.  

Anyone wishing to take part in this year’s Great British Spring Clean event can find out more and pledge their support at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean