March 22 to April 23 spans the Great British Spring Clean and that means a community clear up on a national scale.

East Anglian Daily Times: You can join in with the Great British Spring Clean. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphotoYou can join in with the Great British Spring Clean. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto (Image: Archant)

This time it's not about the skirting board behind the sofa, it's about the great outdoors.

When was the last time you drove down a country lane and didn't see one plastic bag on the roadside or clinging to the hedgerow? And when have you not encountered a plastic bottle squashed on the highway after it has been lobbed out of the car window?

Outside my house I have had to clear fast-food cartons stuffed into my privet hedge. My least favourite chore is tipping up the empty brown bin, on collection day, into which a passing dog walker has dropped a bag of dog poo. I have to retrieve the bag and put it in the black bin.

I also have a problem with people that empty their car ash trays into the gutter in the road outside my house. And in town I see people drop rubbish without breaking their stride and others who spit out chewing gum which will later attach to someone's shoe.

Is it laziness that afflicts people or some sense of entitlement: 'I accept people shouldn't do it but it's okay if I do it.'?

After the strong gales we have had in the last couple of months, some town litter has probably sailed out into the countryside and come to rest in an area of outstanding natural beauty. But we now have the chance to make Britain altogether more neat and tidy.

Keep Britain Tidy link here is calling on #LitterHeroes across the country to help improve the environment on their doorstep. It hopes to inspire half a million people to join forces, in partnership with community organisations, businesses and the government, to collect and safely dispose of litter from our streets, parks and beaches, recycling as much as possible.

There are three ways you can get involved:

1. Sign up to host a clean-up or log in to My Dashboard if you've signed up before

2. Join a clean-up near you

3. Pledge your support

There are groups that, year round, go out and litter pick on beaches. Many villages also designate a weekend for clearing the rubbish from verges, thrown or blown.

As the population of this planet becomes more aware of the damage to the environment caused by discarded plastics, there is a growing consciousness that we have to aim for something more than a quick fix.

• For the next month, March 22- April 23 there will be a concerted effort to give the country a spring clean and you can take part. There are dozens of public clean-up calls throughout East Anglia on Sundays and you can sign up to join one... or more.