From a street party to a festival, any gathering that involves food and drink will generate waste. Left to chance, that waste becomes litter scattered across the venue and the streets around it. The good news is that a litter-free event is mostly a matter of planning ahead: decide what waste you'll create, then decide where all of it will go.
Cut the waste before it arrives
The easiest litter to manage is the litter you never bring. When planning catering and supplies:
- Favour reusables — real cups, plates and cutlery, or a returnable-cup scheme with a small deposit that gets people to bring them back.
- If single-use is unavoidable, choose items that match your local recycling or composting collection so they can actually be processed.
- Buy in bulk to cut individual packaging, and avoid handing out freebies that will be dropped within minutes.
- Use jugs and refill stations instead of individual bottles where you can.
Provide plenty of bins — and make them obvious
People litter far less when a bin is easy to find. Under-provision is the single most common cause of a messy event.
- More than you think. Place bins generously, especially near food stalls, seating and exits.
- Clearly labelled and paired. Put recycling and general-waste bins side by side with big, simple signs so people can sort at a glance — the same care that recycling basics asks for at home.
- Empty before they overflow. A full bin becomes a litter pile and invites more. Assign someone to check and swap bags through the event.
- Cover them if it's windy. Open bins in a breeze simply redistribute the litter you collected.
Have a cleanup crew
Plan the end of the event as carefully as the start. Line up a team — staff or volunteers — to sweep the site as things wind down and again once everyone has left. Give them bags, gloves and litter-pickers, agree who covers which area, and don't forget the streets and car parks nearby, where litter drifts. A visible cleanup crew during the event also nudges guests to bin their own rubbish.
Bring people with you
Guests litter less when they know it matters. A friendly line on signage or announcements — "help us leave this place as we found it" — genuinely works. Making bins easy and reusables the default does most of the job; a gentle reminder does the rest.
A safety note
Keep your cleanup crew safe. Provide sturdy gloves and litter-pickers so no one handles waste directly, and brief everyone to leave sharps, broken glass and any hazardous or unidentified waste for a designated, properly equipped person rather than picking it up by hand. Set out separate, clearly marked containers for glass, keep children supervised if they're helping, and make sure everyone washes their hands afterwards. Follow the venue's and your local authority's rules on waste disposal.
Where to go next
- For a public litter-pick rather than an event, see how to organise a community cleanup.
- Understand why it's worth the effort on the true cost of litter.
- Browse everything on the topics page.