We Need People Like YOU to create a better world for people like Oscar. Oscar was born in 2021 and he’s joining the world at a time when the human race seems to be racing to fill every single nook and cranny with plastic, whether toys, packaging or various single use items we are going to have to wean ourselves off.
Picker Pals seeks to engage the next generation with the issue of waste in the environment. We believe that the action of litter-picking serves to raise awareness of the issue as well as empowering children and their adults to actually do something about the problem.
We are building a community of like minded teachers, families, schools and other organisations who are able to facilitate the running of the Picker Pals. Please express your school or organisation’s interest in getting involved here Community engagement, whether through schools, community centres or online, is crucial to achieving results around any common goal. Littering is no different, and due to the amount of work and expense required to alleviate the problem, the benefits of community engagement are even more important as we struggle to maintain clean streets and properly dispose of waste.
Littering is a vicious cycle. When someone sees litter already accumulated somewhere, it gives them the impression it’s acceptable or even the right place to discard items. If most other people are seen to be littering, or if a littered environment suggests that littering is a standard behaviour, this encourages further littering. Any area can become a litter spot if just one person decides to discard their litter there regularly.
So where is the solution? One obvious remedy is a proper environmental education, instilled at an early age through schools. It is not only children who would benefit from education; many adults are completely oblivious too, and even if they were aware, the lack of care or consequences for their littering can make incentivising individuals to change their habits very difficult. This is where the value of community engagement and anti-litter campaigns come in. Programmes like Picker Pals are critical in combating a lack of education and incentivising people to do something about the litter problem.

This is Ireland’s Fastest Growing Primary Schools Programme EVER
Here’s why – and how your classroom can become a part of it in 2023-24.