Owner of six McDonald's restaurants in Milton Keynes spends 24 hours picking up litter non-stop around MK

Ken walked 27.5 miles (57,000 steps) to collect 21 bags of rubbish during his solo 24-hour marathon.

He was supported by members of the local community who carried out their own litter picks across Milton Keynes during the 24 hours. Together they collected an impressive 113 bags of rubbish.

McDonald’s has carried out alarming new research that shows as many as one in five Brits have littered in lockdown, and over the last three months, with almost half of 18-25 year olds admitting to dumping rubbish in streets, in parks and rural areas at some point.

Young adults (18 to 34 year olds) were some of the worst offenders having confessed to throwing waste out of car windows, leaving packaging after a BBQ or picnic, and finding excuses such as not being able to time to find a bin. In fact, one-in-five litterers refuse to carry their rubbish around with them.

Almost all over 55s say they dislike those who litter, even though some 17 per cent admit to doing so.

The MK litter pick was part of McDonald’s Milton Keynes’ #LoveMKHateLitter initiative, the brainchild of Marketing Manager Laura Chapman.

With their annual 24-hour community litter pick on hold due to Covid-19 this year, the Milton Keynes McDonald’s team wanted to continue encouraging the community to keep litter picking at an individual level with #LoveMKHateLitter.

Members of the local community have taken part since the initiative began at the start of July with a seven-day litter pick challenge, which involves collecting a bag of litter each day, taking a picture of this to share on social media and nominating someone else to get involved. The 24-hour litter pick marked Ken’s 18th day of collecting litter, and he is determined to not stop there.

The #LoveMKHateLitter initiative aligns with the new nationwide litter campaign McDonald’s launched recently, which features the slogan ‘Get in the Bin’ and is aimed at confronting personal responsibility.

Ken said: “I’m very proud of the contribution McDonald’s has made to be part of the solution to clear up litter in Milton Keynes throughout the years. Instead of waiting until 2021 to host another 24-hour litter pick, I wanted to keep the momentum up by carrying out a solo version to inspire the community to continue litter picking and unite together virtually with #LoveMKHateLitter.

“Over the last few months, we have seen how important collective responsibility is and we want Milton Keynes to continue tackling the growing litter problem. Most of our packaging is recyclable and we want to see all customers taking their litter home, recycling, or disposing of it responsibly.”

Local McDonald’s Brand Manager, Laura Chapman, said: “It’s been amazing to see the local community getting involved in the #LoveMKHateLitter campaign, with people providing incredible support for the 24-hour litter pick especially. It has been alarming to see how much litter has increased recently and we urge people to always take their litter home. There is no excuse for leaving rubbish lying around and it is important we all work together to keep Milton Keynes clean."

She added: “I’ve also created a Facebook group as a home for our community of anti-litter heroes, so we can continue to unite in our mission to rid Milton Keynes of litter. It takes a group effort to make a difference and I look forward to welcoming more people to the group.”