Brief for local land managers
Social experiment to combat cigarette litter
Background
Since 2013, Keep Britain Tidy has been working with local land managers to deliver a series of
experiments aimed at changing littering behaviour as part of its Defra funded Social Innovation to
Prevent Littering programme. The experiments are evaluated to assess their impacts to behaviour and
litter on the ground, with a view to encouraging replication to scale the intervention across England.
This year, Keep Britain Tidy would like to partner with one local land manager to trial an experiment to
prevent cigarette litter. Using bin solutions, signage and a dedicated ‘smoking zone’, the experiment
aims to ‘nudge’ people towards correct disposal of cigarette litter and thus reduce the problem on the
ground.
Research1 recently conducted by Keep Britain Tidy shows that smokers know that cigarette butts are
litter – but different ‘rules’ apply because it is on fire, small, cig butts on the floor are commonplace,
they are smelly and can be perceived to be biodegradable. Many who wouldn’t litter other items
would litter cigarettes.
The main barrier is a lack of an easy solution; more, better designed, cleaner cigarette bins that are
emptied regularly. Smokers have a clear idea about what makes an ideal smokers’ bin – easy, effective
and quick to use, with no visible evidence of cigarette ends – a dedicated cigarette bin to minimise the
risk of fire that is emptied frequently and is kept clean.
As such, our experiment will aim to address daytime smoking behaviour by:
 creating a smoking zone - which we will encourage smokers to use with relevant signage so that
smoking in transit (whilst walking from A to B) will be minimised and therefore cigarette litter
would be less likely to occur across a larger geographic area within the town/city centre.
 installing new bins as per the above requirements (for the ideal smokers’ bin) in the smoking zone
Keep Britain Tidy will focus the experiment in main retail and commercial areas e.g. town/city centre
areas, for example, areas immediately outside of indoor shopping centres, transport hubs, office
blocks, etc.
1
Research with smokers, Keep Britain Tidy, February 2013
These photos give an indication of how
this experiment might look in action. They
are taken from the work of Pelle
Guldborg-Hansen and his students in their
work to nudge smokers’ to a dedicated
smoking area to reduce the impact from
second-hand smoke.
http://www.inudgeyou.com/when-prescriptionworks-better-than-proscription/
We are working with a bin manufacturer to develop the cigarette bins that meet the requirements of
an ideal smokers’ bin as outlined above. We are aware that often smokers’ don’t always notice the
presence of cigarette bins, so it will be important for the bins in this experiment to stand out. In order
to ensure that the bins are salient, they will be produced in ‘traffic yellow’.
Aim and objectives
The aim of the experiment is to change daytime smokers’ behaviour and reduce the amount of
cigarette litter found present on the ground via the creation of a dedicated smoking zone, installed
with cigarette bins (that meet the requirements of what smokers are looking for from a bin), and
supported by relevant signage.
The objectives of the experiment are to identify:

the impact of the interventions on cigarette litter present on the ground

the longevity of any impacts over a three month period

learnings to improve the effectiveness, appropriateness, efficiency and impact of the
interventions for any future iterations of the initiative.
Monitoring and evaluation
To fully understand the impact of this work, and in particular, the impact on smokers’ behaviour and
therefore the impact on the ground, the monitoring and evaluation of the experiment is really
important.
The partner organisation will monitor the amount of cigarette litter in the bins and on the ground at
both sites for a total of nine weeks over the course of the experiment. Keep Britain Tidy will provide
monitoring guidelines, template monitoring form and other support to assist the partner.
The cigarette litter monitoring will be conducted as part of the partner’s normal cleansing regime for
their chosen sites, however the approach may involve additional cleansing depending on the partner’s
current cleansing regime. It will also involve assessing the number of cigarette ends that are littered
and put into any existing bins, but the method for this will be agreed at the inception meeting.
To add to this, Keep Britain Tidy will conduct:

behavioural observations of smokers at the sites before and during the intervention

intercept perceptions research (on-street, unstructured conversations) with smokers at the sites.
Pre-intervention
A suggested framework for monitoring and evaluation schedule is outlined below.
Monitoring activity
Week commencing
(Monday)
Behavioural observations and intercept perceptions research
(Keep Britain Tidy)
Early October 2014
Cigarette litter monitoring – control week 1
13 October 2014
Cigarette litter monitoring – control week 2
20 October 2014
Cigarette litter monitoring – control week 3
27 October 2014
Long term monitoring
Intervention
Install interventions – smoking zones, signage and cigarette bins
on morning of 3 Nov 2014
Cigarette litter monitoring – intervention week 1
3 November 2014
Behavioural observations and intercept perceptions research
(Keep Britain Tidy)
Cigarette litter monitoring – intervention week 2
10 November 2014
Cigarette litter monitoring – intervention week 3
17 November 2014
No monitoring required (continue to utilise the interventions)
24 November 2014
to 18 January 2015
Cigarette litter monitoring – long term week 1
(Potential) Behavioural observations and intercept perceptions
research (Keep Britain Tidy)
19 January 2015
Cigarette litter monitoring – long term week 2
26 January 2015
Cigarette litter monitoring – long term week 3
2 February 2015
Partnership agreement
We are seeking one local land manager partner across England to deliver the experiment at two
locations in their area. We envisage that the project will run for approximately four months,
beginning in late August 2014 with an inception meeting between the partner and Keep Britain Tidy to
fine tune the experiment and agree the monitoring and evaluation framework.
Keep Britain Tidy will:

Project manage the experiment

Source and supply 10 ‘traffic yellow’ dedicated cigarette bins (5 for each site), relevant signage
and equipment to define a border around the smoking zones

Design the monitoring and evaluation for the experiment with input from the partner

Conduct the observations and interceptions (unstructured conversations) with users of the two
sites, with support from the partner

Evaluate the experiment based on the monitoring results and provide feedback to the partner.
The partners will:

Select two sites for the experiment – both to be main retail and commercial areas, have
reasonably high footfall and be hotspot areas for cigarette litter.

Attend an inception meeting with Keep Britain Tidy in late August 2014 to fine tune the
experiment and the monitoring and evaluation framework

Install all cigarette bins, signage and borders at the two locations and leave them there for
approximately 14 weeks (partners are welcome to keep the cigarette bins and to continue
displaying the signage and borders after the experiment has finished if they wish)

Monitor and record the impacts of the experiment to cigarette litter on the ground and in litter
bins as outlined in the framework above and submit them at agreed intervals to Keep Britain
Tidy’s researchers.

Support Keep Britain Tidy’s researchers in undertaking the observations and interceptions
(unstructured conversations) with users of the two sites

Participate in a telephone interview to provide feedback on the intervention upon completion of
the experiment.
How to apply
We are inviting Expressions of Interest from local land managers across England to partner
with us to deliver the experiment in their areas. To apply, please complete the Expression of
Interest form attached with this brief, confirming that you would be committed to helping
undertake the monitoring and evaluation of the experiment and outlining why you would
make a good delivery partner, and return it to marcela.teran@keepbritaintidy.org by 12 noon,
on Friday the 22nd August 2014.
For any enquiries regarding the experiment, please do not hesitate to contact Marcela Teran
on 020 7549 0333 or at marcela.teran@keepbritaintidy.org.