One of the issues covered in a recent Panorama programme was a call by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) for a deposit scheme to encourage people to return used bottles and cans.

Bill Bryson, President of CPRE, writes:
Defra has now agreed to commission a new report on the feasibility of deposit schemes. It seems to me that a lot of research in this area has already been done, and they should just get on and implement a scheme, but at least the issue is back on the Government's agenda, and that's good news.
More information on the CPRE website

Parish Council tool kit
We are also producing our parish council toolkit, which will be distributed in the autumn to CPRE's thousands of parish council members. The toolkit will be full of information and advice for parish councils on how they can deal with litter and fly-tipping, and make good use of the powers they have. As well as being sent to our parish council members, the toolkit will be available on our website, so please look out for it later this year.

ENCAMS
I am glad to see ENCAMS getting themselves back into the litter debate with the launch of their Big Tidy Up project on 1 September, and I hope it's the shape of things to come.

August 2008

ENCAMS stands for Environmental Campaigns and is the environmental charity which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. www.encams.org/home/index.asp

Campaign to Protect Rural England CPRE is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926. www.cpre.org.uk