Campaign tells visitors to ‘Bin it or take it home’ after tests show it reduces littering by 26%.

New signs and stickers will be appearing across Babbacombe Downs, Princess Gardens in Torquay, Preston beach promenade and Goodrington beach promenade in a drive to cut the amount of rubbish left by visitors.

We are working in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy as part of a project funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation.

The new campaign which was piloted by the environment charity during the summer of 2018 saw beach litter reduce by an average of 26%, and by as much as 59% on one beach, will be appearing at four key locations across Torbay and will be in place throughout the summer.

With lockdown measures continuing to be eased, the reopening of the tourism and hospitality sector and the school holidays upon us, we are expecting more and more local residents and visitors to be out enjoying our natural environment. With this in mind, all residents and visitors are asked to be more aware of their behaviour when it comes to littering and the negative environmental impacts litter has.

Councillor Mike Morey, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure and Culture, Torbay Council, said: “One of the most common issues is litter being left next to full bins, rather than finding an empty bin or taking visitors taking rubbish home with them. Litter left next to bins or on beaches is not only an eye sore, it attracts seagulls and other vermin and can get blown into the sea causing harm to our marine life.

As a UNESCO Global Geopark and with our status recently being confirmed for a further four years, we have a responsibility to maintain our designation and to encourage everyone who lives in or visits the English Riviera to do their bit to prevent aquatic and marine pollution.

We want everyone to enjoy the English Riviera this summer and to be responsible, our message is simple when it comes to littering bin it or take it home”.

Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “We are delighted that Torbay Council is one of our partners for this summer’s drive to keep beaches clean and litter free. We are all now only too aware of the impact littering behaviour on the land is having on our oceans and we all have a responsibility to put our rubbish in a bin or take it home when we are visiting our country’s beautiful beaches.”

Look out for the eye catching materials and become a Litter Hero this summer, find a bin or take your take your litter home.