Press Release: Under embargo until 00:01, Friday 21st July 2023
Barbie or Oppenheimer? Ballot Bin campaign tells public it’s time to #PickYourSide in new campaign to reduce litter New bins have hit the streets of Southampton and Manchester, encouraging the public to vote on hot topics such as Barbie vs Oppenheimer, Liam Gallagher vs Noel Gallagher and Scott Mills vs Craig David, in a bid to reduce litter in UK cities. The #PickYourSide trials, established and designed as part of a partnership between environmental charity Hubbub and KFC, have seen new Big Ballot Bins set up in Manchester and Southampton city centres, as part of a project to tackle litter. The new Big Ballot Bins are the first of their kind, using solar-powered sensors to detect and count which option the public vote for as they throw away their rubbish, with digital screens keeping track of the score. Hubbub and KFC are not only encouraging the public to do their part and throw away their rubbish, but also to share their opinions on the questions via social media using the hashtag #PickYourSide. From Barm vs Muffin, to Love vs Money, the bins are already stirring up debate and going viral online. The questions will be in place for four weeks, when we’ll get a whole new set of hot topics to get people going. The campaign will coincide with the peak of summertime, with litter often becoming a more visible eyesore at this time of year and the latest figures1 show that the UK is spending £1 billion to clear 30 million tonnes of litter each year. Gavin Ellis, Director and Co-Founder at Hubbub, commented “Since we created the Ballot Bin voting ashtray back in 2016 and saw it successfully nudging smokers to bin their butts, Hubbub has wanted to test the same approach with litter bins. We’re always looking for creative ways to reduce littering and we hope the new Big Ballot Bins, which are built based on proven behaviour change principles, will do just that. We’ll be tracking the impact they have through independent, scientific measurement”.