Spring is a great time to get outdoors and help your local environment. Here are three ways you could join in.

1. Join (or start) a clean-up group

The idea of local clean-up groups is to help the environment by doing all those small jobs that local councils often don’t manage to do.

Clean-up groups typically meet once a month. You can give as much or as little time as you like.

Jobs done by these groups include litter picking, weeding, clearing public footpaths, trimming overhanging bushes, leaf sweeping, sowing wildflowers and planting floral baskets.

Track down a local group by asking on social media or at your local library. If you can’t find a group, then think about starting one.

You could also join the Great British Spring Clean 2025, which runs until 6 April.

2. Plant a tree or two

Trees help capture greenhouse gases, attract wildlife, provide shade and shelter and look good too.

If you have a garden, think about planting a tree or two.

If you don’t have a garden or if you’re renting, you could offer a tree to a local school or church. Alternatively, you could donate to a tree-planting scheme. They’ll plant a tree on your behalf.

The National Trust runs a tree-planting scheme. 

3. Create more wildlife habitats

It’s not just people who need homes; our wildlife does too.

Here are some simple ways to create much-needed wildlife habitats. 

They will help turn your garden into an eco-friendly haven. 

Many of them can be set up in local public green spaces (although you may need permission from the council first).

• Put up a bird box.
• Make a bug hotel using offcuts, old bricks and brushwood. 
• Create a garden pond or fill a planter with water and some aquatic plants. 
• Build a compost heap and turn garden or kitchen waste into a home for worms, snails, beetles and other insects. 
• Create a simple hedgehog habitat using fallen branches and brushwood.
  

We hope you’ve found this post interesting and that it will encourage you to do your bit for your local environment. 

Please feel free to share it with your friends too.