As heatwaves hit the UK relentlessly, it’s not just parched grass we’re noticing in our parks, but the bottle-mageddon of discarded plastic as Brits seek to stay hydrated. Nearly three-quarters of us say litter in our public spaces is a problem, but nearly half admit we have left rubbish behind in a park, on a beach or in another public outdoor space at least once, new research reveals.
The nationally representative survey of 2,000 Brits, commissioned by sparkling water company CO2 YOU, exposes a contradiction between how we feel about litter, and what we do with our rubbish when confronted with overflowing bins caused by surges in park visitor numbers.
Parks are Brit’s most routinely visited outdoor destination, with nearly half of us (47.1%) visiting at least once a week, but the challenge stretches beyond parks when temperatures rise. During a heatwave, the beach or seaside is the most visited destination nationally at 35.4 per cent, closely followed by public parks at 32.5 per cent and the countryside at 24.8 per cent.
Gen-Z seems to be the worst offenders, with more 18 to 24-year-olds admitting that they leave rubbish behind than any other generation. Almost three quarters (74.2 per cent) say they have done so, compared with just over one in five (21.8 per cent) of people aged 55 and over and 44.3% overall.

The findings suggest however, that it’s not that we just don’t care. Only 3 per cent say they left rubbish for no reason.

Overflowing bins were cited as the most common reason for leaving rubbish behind (14.1 per cent), followed by waste being blown away by the wind (13.3 per cent) and a lack of recycling facilities (10.7 per cent).
This suggests that it isn’t that Brits want to litter necessarily, but that the sheer amount of visitors bringing cans, bottles and food waste to parks on hot days is overwhelming refuse facilities, and putting additional pressure on local councils, who aren’t coping with the issue.
Marcus O’Donovan, Founder of CO2 YOU, said: “People claim that the biggest reason they litter during the heatwave is that bins are overflowing or they can’t find any. And with bins being removed to encourage people to leave litter at home, this seems to have had the opposite effect.
There are now less bins than ever, which has resulted in mountains of bottles on busy periods. Finger-wagging clearly isn’t working, so instead of expecting overstretched councils to keep clearing up after us, we need to make doing the right thing easier.”
LONDON IS UK’S LITTER CAPITAL
Almost two thirds of Londoners (65.5 per cent) say they have left rubbish behind outdoors, the highest figure nationwide and well above the UK average of 44.3 per cent. By comparison, the South West records the lowest regional figure at 32.4 per cent. Research from last year suggested the London borough of Newham had almost 50,000 fines issued for littering in the last three years, more than any other city in the UK.
At the same time, three-quarters (74.3%) of Londoners agree litter is an issue in parks.
Plastic bottles are the most commonly noticed item of outdoor litter, seen by six-in-ten people (59%), followed by food packaging (58%), crisps and confectionery wrappers (53%) and cans (46%).
Yet even noticing the plastic bottle tsunami across our green spaces, one-in-four (25%) still take drinks outdoors in single-use plastic bottles and around the same (24%) take cans. While over a third (37.3%) do use a reusable bottle, the figures show that they haven’t yet replaced disposables.
The packaging picture also varies around Britain. Wales has the highest use of single-use plastic bottles outdoors at 31.5 per cent, above its 27.2 per cent use of standard reusable bottles. The South West records the highest reusable bottle use at 41.6 per cent, while Yorkshire has the lowest single-use plastic usage, at 19.5 per cent.
CO2 YOU BRINGS BUBBLES TO PARKGOERS VIA A NEW SERVICE
CO2 YOU is responding to the findings by launching a pilot service “Bubble SOS”, delivering sparkling water without the plastic, to some of London’s worst affected parks, aiming to reduce the amount of disposable bottles taken to parks in the first place.
Whether people just want a refreshing cold drink to stay hydrated, or to top up their Spritz, visitors who send CO2 YOU a Bubble SOS will receive chilled sparkling water from a “Bubble Bike”.
These electric delivery bikes, blowing bubbles as they go, will be starting this weekend, travelling across East London’s parks, bringing a little joy as they help people top up bottles they already have or give them a new reusable bottle, instead of forcing thirsty people to buy more single-use plastic.

RISING TEMPERATURES SEE BRITS GO BATTY FOR BUBBLES
As we try to stay hydrated during back to back heatwaves, figures show that while the stereotype of Brits with a drinks thermos is still partly true, with a quarter of us (25.4%) still bringing tea and coffee, changing tastes over the past five years have seen an increase in drinks with a little fizz.
Maybe spurred on by rising temperatures, soft drinks and sparkling water have seen the biggest rises, followed by frozen drinks and ready to drink cocktails. The majority of the biggest upward park drink trends mainly come in plastic bottles and then cans or glass bottles, reflecting the litter most often observed in parks.
Park drinks seeing the biggest rise in the last 5 years
More likely
Soft drinks
57.4%
Sparkling water
34.6%
Frozen cocktails or slushies
28.2%
Ready-to-drink cocktails
27.5%

Over half of us (59%) bring soft drinks to the park and one in five people (19.2%) have taken sparkling water to a park, with that number growing, 34.6 per cent are more likely to buy sparkling water for outdoor socialising than five years ago.
London is moving faster still. Some 26.4 per cent of Londoners have taken sparkling water to a park and 49.8 per cent are more likely to buy it for outdoor socialising than five years ago.
Marcus O’Donovan, Founder of CO2 YOU, said: “Brits love their parks, but for one reason or another, we’re not treating them that way. Nearly half of us visit a park every week, and a third plan to visit during a heatwave, with the majority bringing soft drinks or sparkling water.
“Keeping hydrated is important, but when nearly half of us admit they’ve littered, that’s potentially a lot of plastic bottles left in our parks and green spaces, and it’s worse in London.
“Bubble SOS is our playful solution to a serious issue, by bringing the refills to people in some of the worst affected areas, making disposable bottles easier to leave at home. We’re even giving out refillable bottles so that hopefully the habit sticks.”
But plastic and glass litter isn’t just an eyesore, it’s a wildfire risk. London’s fire service issued a plea last week for people to not leave litter in parks after control officers took over 1000 emergency calls in one day, including more than 200 calls to grass fires, and mobilised firefighters to 493 incidents.
O’Donovan added: “On hot, dry days, litter isn’t just ugly; it can become dangerous. Local fire services have asked Brits to not bring litter into parks, or to make sure it’s taken back with us. We hope that our Bubble SOS does a little to help keep bottles out of parks, reducing waste and removing another potential wildfire risk.”