The Green Clean initiative was supported by Schools, Community Groups and Organisations including: Dorset Devils (Bournemouth Beach), Dorset Wildlife Trust (Worbarrow Bay), Litter Free Purbeck, Wareham Wombles, and West Dorset Conservatives.

Damers First School partnered up with The Thomas Hardye School and took part in a joint Litter Pick. CPRE even came into Damers school and did a presentation to yr3 on the importance of deposit return scheme.

The CPRE Reverse Vending Machine visited Dorset from 13^th to 15^th September. Volunteers were able to dispose of, and receive cash for, each of the drinks containers they picked, giving people a feel for how the national system will work and highlighting how financial incentives can help to boost recycling.

Volunteers taking part in the Green Clean collected a total of 11,212 cans and bottles of all shapes, sizes and materials. Over a third (35%) of those collected were made from plastic, 50% were aluminium, 14% glass and 1% Tetra Pak.

While plastic packaging has been making the headlines, this data shows that two-thirds of all drinks containers littered are made from other materials – such as aluminium and glass – and should be taken just as seriously.

When Litter Free Dorset’s went to visit Gove to ask for an all inclusive deposit return scheme he was also given a special gift designed by the working group to represent how important the Deposit Return Scheme is. This was a sculpture of ‘future fossils’ carved out of Blue Lias by The Dorset Stone Carver Ben Russell.