Big Ballot Bin trial in Southampton

Littering reduced in Southampton during Big Ballot Bin trial

In the summer, Southampton City Council partnered with the environmental charity Hubbub (https://www.hubbub.org.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA1MCrBhAoEiwAC2d64cNiieYCpHBHMYlzUs35pNMhKi4ixIt1bT0fQd5lmSE7o_rz7L4SbRoCXoUQAvD_BwE) to launch their #PickYourSide litter trial. Three solar-powered Big Ballot Bins which counted votes on questions like ‘Barbie vs Oppenheimer’ or ‘Cats vs Dogs’ were installed in high-footfall litter hotspots in the city for eight weeks.

Building on the success of their voting ashtray The Ballot Bin (https://ballotbin.co.uk/), Hubbub, in partnership with KFC, tested whether a similar approach could be used to tackle and reduce the general waste littered on UK high streets.

According to Keep Britain Tidy (https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/local-authorities/reduce-litter/general-litter), more than 20 pieces of litter are dropped per second in UK. This equates to 2 million pieces of litter per year and costs councils an estimated £1 billion annually.

Hubbub worked with Ellipsis Earth (https://www.ellipsis.earth/) to analyse the volume of litter at the hot spots before and after the trial.  We’re pleased to say that the Big Ballot Bins, on average had a capture radius, 2.5 times greater than existing bins. Drinks litter was reduced by approximately 70% and food litter by around 60% within 20 metres of the bins. 

Seven out of ten people in Southampton saw the voting bins as a good way of reducing litter. Councillor Eammon Keogh, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said:

“Southampton strives to be a cleaner, greener city, not only for those of us living and working here now, but for future generations to come. We were thrilled to be asked to facilitate this innovative approach to tackling litter and are delighted that all residents got involved and, together, have produced fantastic results, while having some fun in the process.”

Gavin Ellis, Co-Founder and Director, Hubbub, said:

"Hubbub has shown that creativity, playfulness and collaboration can help to cut through the noise when engaging the public on unexciting topics like litter. As well as spotlighting issues, starting conversations and raising awareness, though, we want to change behaviours, which is what our Big Ballot Bins and #PickYourSide campaign achieved. Who knew bins could capture the imagination like this?"

See what residents had to say about the new bins with Hubbub’s short video: 

Key stats and highlights:

• Polling shows that 15% of population recognises a Big Ballot Bin which means 10 million people in the UK saw the bins and/or campaign. Source: nationally representative polling of 3,001 UK adults by Censuswide, October 2023.
• Hashtag #PickYourSide reached 3.6million.
• Scott Mills – who was pitted against local artist Craig David on one of the bins – regularly featured the bins on his BBC Radio 2 show and asked for weekly score updates.
• Featured on BBC News, ITV Granada, Daily Echo and Manchester Evening News.
• Shared by Archbishop of Banterbury, BOXXER and more.
• Conversation starter across social media channels and beyond: of those who used a Ballot Bin, 58% had a conversation about them with someone.