19 May 2025
Two years ago, a young girl in New Greens asked her dad for a litter picker after noticing rubbish on her walk to school. That simple request has grown into a powerful community movement – one that has transformed New Greens into what many, including SADC contractor Veolia, now call the cleanest area in St Albans.
Every Saturday morning at 8am, for 100 consecutive weeks a dedicated team of volunteers – with a membership of 85 and growing – has gathered to tackle litter head-on.
Each week, the group fills a large security roll cage with everything from cans, bottles, cigarette butts and vapes to nitrous oxide canisters and discarded mopeds – four of which have been removed from Batch Wood. Mattresses, household waste, and a few more “colourful” items (unfit for publication) have also made their way out of the woods and streets thanks to these determined residents.
The scale of progress and behavioural change was on full display on Saturday May 10, the 100th pick. In just one hour, 35 volunteers -including 15 primary school-aged children -covered all 20 residential roads in New Greens, home to around 1,300 households. In contrast, two years ago, just 10 volunteers could barely manage one section of a single road in the same amount of time.
“This is proof that attitudes are changing,” said Cllr Damian Gaskin, chair of Batchwood Pickers.
“Littering is no longer something people feel they have to put up with. It’s no longer such a vast problem here that picking is futile. It’s being challenged—and defeated—by ordinary residents who realise they have agency. These volunteers have litter picked for one hour for every house on the estate! Now we all need to do our bit.”
Residents now know they can call SADC to report overflowing bins, collect equipment from Christ Church on High Oaks, a Clean-Up hub, and carry out their own mini litter picks. “It’s no longer overwhelming. People realise they can do something, and that something matters,” Damian added.
Particularly heartening is the involvement of 15 local children, many of whom show up every single Saturday morning, week in, week out.
“They’re the heroes of this story,” said Damian. “They’re setting the example we all should follow.”
The group have a Sunday group in Ladies Grove and Oyster Fields who have transformed, amongst other areas, Everlasting Lane with 75 litter picks in the last year.
As St Albans grapples with ongoing concerns around fly-tipping and litter, New Greens stands out as a shining example of what grassroots community action can achieve—with just a litter picker and a bit of determination.
