Beautify Balham

Striving for a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Balham.

Litter Picking

Beautify Balham Joins Forces for The Great British Spring Clean 2025

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On Saturday 5th April 2025, we were delighted to surpass our target for this year’s Great British Spring Clean: collecting an impressive 25 bags of litter, well above our original
pledge of 20.

The morning saw a fantastic turnout, with 28 volunteers taking part, including 10 new
faces joining our growing team. It was a pleasure to see such a wide range of
participants united by a shared commitment to a cleaner Balham.

Among the volunteers was a particularly enthusiastic 4-year-old, who enjoyed the
morning so much he continued litter picking across Tooting Common throughout the
afternoon. We were also joined by five Japanese students currently studying in
London, who travelled from West London to take part, as well as a visitor from
Belgium, adding an international touch to the day.

We were especially pleased to welcome our local MP, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan,
accompanied by her daughter, along with Councillor Lyndsey Hedges. Their support
was greatly appreciated and contributed to the strong sense of community on the
day.

Despite the ongoing challenges posed by littering in the area, the enthusiasm and
community spirit were truly inspiring. We were also fortunate to have glorious
weather, which made the event even more enjoyable.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part and helped make a real difference.

If you joined in with our litter pick, or in the Great British Spring Clean this year, let us know on Instagram at @beautifybalham

One Saturday: 23 Bags Of Litter… Here’s What We Found

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Last Saturday Beautify Balham had another great turn out for our monthly litter pick, with about 30 volunteers turning up to clean Balham’s streets.

Donned in their green Beautify Balham hi-vis vests with litter pickers and bags, they took to the streets for an hour.

Litter Picking

This time we were part of the Great British Spring Clean 2021 run by Keep Britain Tidy. 

We were asked to count the number of bags we used, numbers of plastic items, and estimates of other rubbish so findings could be collated nationwide.

This is the count for Balham from 11am – 12noon on Saturday 5th June:

23 bags containing approximately:

32 x Plastic bottles

47 x Aluminium cans

1000 x Cigarette butts (approx)

60 x Cardboard

36 x Food wrappers

120 x Metal bottle tops

15 x PPE face masks

Other : cable ties, coffee cup lids, paper bags, plastic bags, laughing gas cannisters and unbelievably one lobster (eaten!) 

Also, as part of the clean up, some gallant residents of Hildreth Mews, behind the market, gathered up fly-tipping that had accumulated and made an eyesore of an otherwise attractive back street.

Before
BEFORE
After
AFTER

The ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos tell the tale and we want to thank all those who helped with this great endeavour.

Our next litter pick will be on: Saturday 26th June as part of our first Balham in Bloom! 

Do come and join in the fun at Bedford Hill Place 11am onwards. There will be a planting activity for children run by ‘Think-Outside‘ in the afternoon from 1pm onwards. Look out for our Beautify Balham gazebo! 

A presentation of prizes for Balham in Bloom‘s best front garden, window box and hanging basket will take place at 2pm by the Mayor of Wandsworth. 

– Jean Millar

Litter Picking

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Balham In Bloom To Create The Balham Floral Boom

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I am originally from a small town in Worcestershire, which tends to mean that you aren’t too far from rolling fields, forests and other open spaces to indulge in nature. When moving to London over 7 years ago, I followed the usual criteria for movers, hopefully to find somewhere with a nearby supermarket, good transport links, a good local pub (of course!) but I added an equally important addition to my list. I had to be near green open space, somewhere I could walk and get my balance of ‘countryside’ as well as that of living in a city. Luckily, I managed to find somewhere only ten minutes walk from Tooting Common, which has definitely helped during the last 12 months to break up the working from home rut we are all in, particularly as I live somewhere without a garden.

Beautify Balham

It’s so important to have community groups/campaigns like Beautify Balham to support and encourage us to make where we live greener and cleaner and protecting the local ecosystem. It’s fantastic to see how much support this group has garnered. The aims of the group resonate with my own and so with ‘Balham in Bloom’ around the corner we have a perfect opportunity to achieve them.

Although I am limited to the constraints of my top floor flat this hasn’t stopped me from thinking of how I could create my own floral arrangements, albeit from my own (very) small gardening experience and sharing it in this blog. However, I will have to admit that prior to writing this I did put in a call to my grandmother, who briefly lived in the area just after 1945, and who has (for 50 plus years) run a small independent garden and plant nursery so I cannot take complete credit for it!

Beautify Balham

So my suggestions are:

Ready grown bedding plants

  • Geraniums (Red, White or Pink)
  • Pansies (mixed Colours)
  • Marigolds (Orange)
  • Petunias (Pink)
  • Carnations (Pink and scented)

*All of these plants if they are planted just after the last frost (around May) they will flower in time for June and last until September/October time. They should also be planted in bedding compost and regularly watered (daily) particularly in drier weather.

Potted Plants

  • Hybrid roses
  • Strawberry plants
  • Raspberry plants

*These should be planted/maintained the same as the bedding plants but will last year on year.

I am personally really looking forward to seeing the creations that start to emerge on our streets and I would encourage everyone to get involved and all make Balham a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Balham.

– Thomas Mytton

  • Beautify Balham
  • Beautify Balham

Is The UK On The Brink of a Face Mask Litter crisis?

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As part of a recent campaign, here at Regatta we wanted to look in-depth at the UK litter Crisis. After gaining insightful data from the charity ‘Keep Britain Tidy’, we were able to uncover the true extent of the litter crisis that’s developing across the country. From the most common types of litter found in the UK each year, to the shocking amount of litter dropped each second; the data was a stark reminder as to why it’s time to act now and turn the tide on the UK’s bad litter habits.

Regatta Urges People To Dispose Of Their Face Masks Correctly

Our campaign found that it’s smoking-related litter which causes one of the main issues in the UK. However, as the country continues to battle a global pandemic, could this mean smoking-related litter is surpassed by a new item we’re now using and discarding on a daily basis?

Face mask

The impact of face masks on the environment

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more than 96 per cent of adults confirmed that they had worn a face covering after leaving their home since the outbreak. Although this lifestyle change is hopefully slowing the spread of COVID-19, large numbers of people are wearing disposable masks, and not disposing of them properly, opting for the floor instead of a bin.

A recent survey of 2,000 respondents found that over 51 per cent of people are using a single-use face covering on a daily basis, which totals around 27 million people. Experts say that a single-use face covering should only be used for a certain amount of time, meaning on average, a person changes their mask twice a day.

Although we can take positives from the large number of people admitting to wearing a face covering, more education needs to be done in order to inform people of the correct ways to dispose of their masks.

The rising issues presented by face masks

We’ve touched upon the upon the benefits of face masks, but if they’re not disposed of correctly, then they’re only going to add to the current litter crisis the UK is facing.

Using Ipswich as an example, anti-litter campaigner Jason Alexander revealed that in one single day he recovered around 50 face masks from the streets within his local area. Although this shocking figure is alarming on it’s own, people who drop face masks on the streets and in beauty spots across the UK are likely unaware of the materials they’re made from and the damage they can have on the environment if not disposed of correctly.

In times gone by face masks were simply made from cloth, but this is no longer the case. Modern day disposable face masks typically contain plastic materials such as polypropylene. Over recent years we have been alerted to the plastics crisis the UK is experiencing and how it is damaging our waters and local nature, so it’s vital face masks are disposed of in the correct manner.

Guidance suggests that the correct way to dispose of a single-use face covering is to remove the two straps from the fabric piece of the mask and dispose of them separately. By doing this the risk to wildlife is reduced and we’re less likely to find them littering our local area. As it’s highly likely the nation will be asked to continue to wear a face covering for the foreseeable future; to protect our wildlife and environment around us, now might be the time to invest in a reusable face mask.

Is the UK on the brink of a new type of litter crisis?

The figures discussed in this post are extremely frightening, but to add to this, a recent campaign created by InYourArea and ‘Clean Up Britain’, found that 90 per cent of people surveyed admitted that they had seen face masks littering the streets; with a further 87 per cent saying they wouldn’t feel comfortable picking one up and disposing of it accordingly.

Our UK litter crisis campaign revealed some alarming figures, but the data we’ve shared above makes you wonder if we’re on the brink of a whole new litter epidemic. With the UK population now having to wear face coverings in a number of settings, it’s important we all play our part in using them correctly and disposing of them in the right manner – don’t forget to bin it!

Join our conversation and share your litter experiences on social media using #UKLitterCrisis

Guest author: Helena Mulhearn at regatta.com