Trash Free Trails launch their ‘Roots to (Re)connection’ Report and poses the question, could we litter pick our way out of the UK’s nature crisis?
Removing single use pollution is an easily quantifiable way of improving your wild spaces, but how do you tally up the less tangible impacts of helping people reconnect with their favourite places?
Roots to (Re)connection is Trash Free Trails’ latest report into exactly that, measuring the impact of those things that are harder to feel on your fingertips.
Read the press release below.
Key stats:
- 78% of Trash Free Trails (TFT) volunteers report an increased sense of nature connectedness after participating in a litter pick
- Disconnection from nature considered a primary underlying cause of nature degradation (IPBES 2024)
- Despite this, UK ranks as one of the lowest countries in the world for nature connectedness (59/60) (Ambio, 2025
- TFT launches a second world-leading study exploring the intersection of litter picking and improvements to wellbeing, as well as to nature.
Environmental not-for-profit launch new research project to establish the impacts of litter picking on volunteers.
If you were asked what one thing we could do to solve the UK’s nature crisis – we can assume the answers would be fairly universal. Move to renewable energy. Restore temperature rainforests. Create more accessible routes to green spaces. Litter picking would probably come quite far down the list.
And perhaps justifiably so. When confronted with increasingly levels of rainfall, soaring summer temperatures and coastal erosion, (FotE, 2026) tackling our pollution crisis feels like it belongs further down the list. But today not-for-profit Trash Free Trails are suggesting a rejig of our priorities, as they launch a new research project to understand the human benefits of picking up rubbish.
The ‘Roots to (Re)Connection’ Report expands on their renowned study of the impacts of trail litter, to explore and quantify the social, psychological and community benefits of litter picking, hoping to showcase for the first time how invaluable environmental volunteering is as a stepping stone towards wider environmental benefits.
“We have known for a long time that the act of trail cleaning can boost our connection to nature,” says TFT’s Associate Director Rich Breeden, “but exactly how this happens and the long-term benefits of it for the individual – this hasn’t been explored by any research or organisation. Our new research project will fill that knowledge gap.”
The multi-year study, supported by Edinburgh Napier University, will see TFT undertake participatory research in nature connectedness, host trail cleans, and produce a new world-leading Report highlighting the power of environmental volunteering for turning the tide for nature.
“The benefits of picking up rubbish are felt far more widely than just by the place you clean up. It’s good for our mental health, for bringing communities together, but also for enabling individuals with information, information and tools to take action for nature in other ways.”
“We know that boosting our connection with nature is invaluable to growing more public support for wider environmental action. Litter picking isn’t an isolated act – it’s the perfect first step.”
To launch the project, TFT are encouraging individuals to respond to a micro-survey on their website. Further opportunities to volunteer and support the research will be made available over the coming months.
