Litter & Waste
Litter & Waste covers actions on litter, dog fouling, flytipping, and graffiti, as well as waste minimisation actions such as recycling and composting. We require evidence from at least one litter pick or survey as part of your Green Flag application.
The Litter & Waste Topic has natural overlap with all other topics.
Our Resources | Resources from Other Organisations | Examples
Our Resources
A Brief History of Plastic
A look into the history of how, when and why this material ushered in the plastics century.
Beach Litter Facts
The facts about beach litter and where it comes from.
Binbag Autopsy
The first step in solving a litter problem is finding out what is being dropped and where it’s coming from. In this exercise, you’ll investigate the types of litter being dropped in your community and make an Action Plan to stop it.
Borrow a Mascot Costume
Dress up like a crisp packet for your litter picking event or assembly!
Build a Wormery
Watch Rachel from The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland explain how to build your very own wormery.
Comic Strip Template
Create a comic strip about the story of a plastic bottle, a marine animal or anything else!
Don't Waste Our Future
A food waste reduction charter created by young people across Europe.
Doughnut Economics (14+)
To learn about the concept of Doughnut Economics and how to stay within planetary boundaries.
Fast Fashion (10+)
Explore your relationship with fashion.
Fast Fashion Alternatives
To learn about alternative options to fast fashion in a fun way.
Fast Fashion Supply Chains (14+)
Do you know the steps that go into making a pair of jeans?
Helping Hands Discount
Purchase equipment from Helping Hand Environmental with a discount code for schools.
Experiment - It's Just an Apple!
How long does it really take litter to degrade? Find out with this experiment.
Lights, Camera, Plastic
Share your thoughts about plastic pollution in a 3 minute campaign video informing others about the issue and what everyone can do about it.
Litter & Waste Live Lesson 2021
The impact of litter on animals, how we used to live and what we can all do.
Litter Analysis
An activity to convert data to a graph to make it easily understood by anyone who sees it.
Litter Campaign Posters
Resources to support a litter campaign at your school.
Litter Pick Plus Toolkit
Our guide to running a successful Litter Pick event
Litter Scavenger Hunt
Can you find our Roadside Litter Mascots in your litter pick?
Litter Survey
A litter survey helps us discover where and what types of litter are causing a problem in our community.
Litter Survey - Pictorial Version
A pictorial version of our Eco-Schools litter survey for Early Years.
Marine Litter Posters
Clean Up Scotland posters focusing on marine litter (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Mini Live Lesson with Paws On Plastic
We welcome Scottish charity Paws On Plastic for inspiring actions to tackle litter
Ocean Plastics Live Lesson
Join Doug Allan for a lesson on ocean plastics.
Ocean Plastics Classroom Resource
To accompany the Ocean Plastics Live Lesson.
Our Waste Collection Services
Can you imagine what the impact would be on all of us if waste collection services were withdrawn?
Plastic Pollution Live Lesson 2022
What are the problems and benefits of plastic? How did we end up having such a big problem with plastic?
Plastic Pollution Wordsearch
How many words can you find?
Roadside Litter Colouring Sheet
Colouring sheet featuring our Roadside Litter Campaign Mascots.
Roadside Litter Presentation
A PowerPoint presentation about the issue of Roadside Litter for Upper Primary.
Roadside Litter Teaching Resource
Teaching resource to accompany our presentation.
Scottish Spring Clean Live Lesson 2022
Interactive lessons supporting Scottish Spring Clean - one of our flagship campaigns to keep Scotland beautiful.
Sea Turtle Game
A simple way for children to understand the impacts of plastic pollution on wildlife.
Sgrùdadh Sgudail
Dèan sgrùdadh sgudail fhad ’s a tha sibh a’ cruinneachadh sgudail gus ionnsachadh dè seòrsa trioblaid a th’ agaibh le sgudal agus gus ur cuideachadh le bhith a’ cumail sùil air an t-suidheachadh.
Single Use Plastic Infographics
Infographics from Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland on single use plastic
Single Use Plastic
Find out how much single use plastic you use.
Source to Sea Litter
Investigate the pathway from source to sea in your community.
Suirbhidh Sgudail
Suirbhidh airson faighinn a-mach càite bheil sgudal agus dè seòrsa sgudal a tha na thrioblaid anns a’ choimhearsnachd againn.
The Story of Bottled Water
Look into the concept of manufactured design, and how a marketing decision helped make single use plastic popular.
Waste Audit
Find out what's in the bin and how you can make less waste.
Wildlife Watching
How to spot wildlife at Scotland's beaches.
Resources From Other Organisations
FIDRA - Great Nurdle Hunt
Fidra’s flagship project working to end plastic pellet pollution.
Journey of a Plastic Bag
Map the journey of a plastic bag from supermarket to ocean with this activity from Stride Magazine.
Marine Conservation Society Fun & Learning
Resources for teachers, families and young people.
Papermaking
Instructions and videos on how to make your own paper from Recycle Devon.
Plastic Fantastic: The Musical
Original musical on story of plastic by Helen Graham who has kindly made the musical freely available for use.
Plastic Oceans - The Facts About Plastic
Plastic Oceans are dedicated to ending plastic pollution and fostering sustainable communities worldwide.
Scottish SPCA - Litter Monster Activity
Design a Litter Monster that will help clear your local environment of all sorts of rubbish!
Sky Ocean Rescue
Sky's campaign make people aware of plastic pollution and enable change.
Stride - Waste Timeline Activity
Explore the amount of time it takes for materials to decompose in the environment.
UNEP - How You Can Beat Plastic Pollution
Our planet is drowning in plastic pollution—it's time for change!
World's Largest Lesson - Marine Litter
Lesson plan on marine litter featuring Lewis Pugh, UNEP Patron of the Oceans.
World's Largest Lesson - Understanding Sustainable Living
Lesson plan on understanding sustainability. For 11-14 years.
World's Largest Lesson - The Challenge of Finite Resources
Lesson critically evaluating consumption and production systems. For 12-19 years.
WRAP - Love Your Clothes
Love your clothes exists to reduce the impact of clothes on the environment.
Zack's Journey
A story about the journey of a plastic bag by Departement Omgeving (Eco-Schools Flanders)
Zero Waste Scotland - Working with schools
Resources to support primary and secondary litter education
Zero Waste Scotland - Resource Efficiency
eModule for educators on reducing energy, water and waste.
Zero Waste Scotland - Resource Efficiency Guide for Schools
Assess and improve your school's use of water, energy and waste.
Zero Waste Scotland - How to Waste Less
Looking to up your recycling game? What can you do about the climate crisis? Your journey starts here.
Zero Waste Scotland - Love Food Hate Waste
These lessons take the whole school on a journey to save food from the bin.
