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About Bag the Bruck

What is Bag the Bruck?

Bag the Bruck is Orkney’s annual community cleanup campaign, which runs every Spring. It is a multi-agency, community project involving residents, community groups, third sector organisations and volunteers of all ages, who take part in helping keep Orkney’s shores, road verges, paths and public spaces clean.

Greener Orkney’s involvement in Bag the Bruck

Greener Orkney is delighted to take the lead in administering Bag the Bruck, providing information sheets and booking forms for people wishing to organise their own Bag the Bruck events, as well as recording data about the impact of the scheme.

Greener Orkney organises some clean-up events itself as part of Bag the Bruck, which are publicised on our events calendar, alongside other organisations and local volunteer groups who organise their own clean-up events.

How can people get involved in Bag the Bruck?

Bag the Bruck 2026 is taking place during the whole of April

You can run your own Bag the Bruck event, or you can join in with events run by others. Greener Orkney is organising several Bag the Bruck events during April – click here for our events page which lists them all.

If you would like to arrange a clean-up event of your own, volunteers are asked to register in advance either by using the booking form below, the Bag the Bruck 2026 Facebook page or by emailing bagthebruck@gmail.com. Registrations need to be completed by the 20th March to ensure distribution of any bags and children’s gloves required by the end of March ready for April.

Afterwards, we would really appreciate it if participants could record the details using of their clean up event using the collection form. This allows Greener Orkney to measure the impact of Bag the Bruck, and also makes sure that bruck that can’t be taken away during a clean-up event is not left littering the countryside.

The OIC Waste Management team manages disposal of collected bruck. Where possible, volunteers are asked to take waste home for household disposal or recycling, or to make use of local Household Waste and Recycling Centres. For larger items or where this isn’t feasible, volunteers should follow the instructions provided in the collection form (below) and leave materials at an OIC-approved location for uplift.

Orkney’s Community Councils continue to support Bag the Bruck by offering small grants to local charities and youth groups undertaking clean-ups within their area. Contact details for each Community Council can be found on the Orkney Islands Council website. Applicants should contact their relevant council in advance, and will need to confirm that they have submitted the Bag the Bruck booking form as part of the process.

This year’s campaign also includes a new element in support of the Marine Environmental Unit, which is collecting information on any dead fulmars found on beaches. Volunteers are encouraged to record sightings as part of their clean-up to assist with environmental monitoring and a guidance sheet on this can be found below.

Ready to take part?

The full set of forms and information sheets are below.

Bag the Bruck information sheets and event forms

If you would like to organise a Bag the Bruck event of your own, start off by reading our three information sheets. They will give you all the information you need about:

• how Bag the Bruck events are organised and what do with litter afterwards,
• important safety considerations, and
• what to do if you find a dead fulmar as part of your clean-up event.

Great! Now you’ve read the background information, you’re ready to register your event. You can do that via our online booking form:

Bag the Bruck 2026 Booking Form

When you’re doing your event, make sure to complete the collection form available via the link below (take a smartphone with you) with the what3words (https://what3words.com/) location reference where you’ve left any bruck that you can’t take home with you or to a Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Bag the Bruck 2026 Collection Form

Bag the Bruck’s impact

We will be collating feedback from Bag the Bruck events, and later in the year we will be producing a project summary report detailing Bag the Bruck 2026’s impact on litter removal. Check back on the Greener Orkney website later to see what difference the community of Orkney made!

Contact Greener Orkney’s Bag the Bruck team

Visit: www.facebook.com/bagthebruck

Email: bagthebruck@gmail.com

Bag the Bruck supporters

As well as Greener Orkney, Bag the Bruck is supported by: