Scotland likes to think of itself as a fairly patriotic country, full of pride in our people, in our culture and our surroundings.

We are a proud nation, and we have many reasons to be proud. We have a small country which has done big things, giving much more to the world than it has ever taken back.

But though we have much to be proud of, we also have characteristics which we don't want the rest of the world to see. I would highlight one in particular – there is an area where much of the population lets our country down; it is our relationship with litter which is becoming a national disgrace.

Research conducted by my charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, which we will be publishing soon, is alarming and will confirm the scale of the problem. In effect, many people living in Scotland, held their hands up and said: "I take my rubbish and throw it in the street."

I often wonder whether those who create litter and mess understand the deep and wide consequences of their actions, because their impact is not simply visual and is not insulated.

A study by the Carnegie UK Trust showed that areas which suffer from litter and mess have a higher reported incidence of depression and other health problems, as well as an increased fear of crime. Indeed, there is evidence from around the world that areas scarred by litter and graffiti can often experience more serious follow-up crime because they are seen as a natural home for anti-social behaviour.

And, of course, there are financial implications. Somebody has to pick this stuff up, and that costs money. Our local authorities spend tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on street cleansing services. These are the taxes of the very people who are dropping the litter in the first place.

Furthermore, tourism is worth £4 billion a year to the Scottish economy, and an estimated 92% of tourists come to Scotland in part for the scenery. Litter is not the right choice of advertising.

This problem exists; it is real and it is out of control. Our national recording survey found litter in 80% of the sites it visited. That statistic alone should shame all of us. It shames me. We don't have to put up with it. Which is why Keep Scotland Beautiful has established the Clean Up Scotland Campaign.

Clean Up Scotland is the nation's mass-engagement anti-litter campaign which aims to clean up litter and mess in order to present Scotland in the best possible light when the world is watching us host the major global events (Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup) planned for 2014.

In the longer-term, Clean Up Scotland aims to change the behaviour which causes the litter problem we have currently. A generation ago many people ignored the wider consequences of drink driving – this is no longer a social norm; we have changed our behaviour. We want a similar change when it comes to litter, so that in future littering becomes as socially unacceptable as drink driving is today.

We are at the early stages of our Clean Up Scotland Campaign, however we are already building a national coalition of support from a variety of partners including local and national government, partner charities and large corporations. We will achieve more if Scotland's largest companies get behind our efforts. What can you do to help?

We are striking a chord with the people of Scotland. Already, tens of thousands of people from across the country have registered to take part in more than 1000 clean-ups. Today, on the longest day of the year, we have a range of co-ordinated clean-up activities planned, and our efforts will continue throughout the summer and beyond.

Too many people have become complacent about litter and mess. As individuals, it is within our gift to make Scotland a cleaner place to live, work and visit. We can all send a message to others living in Scotland that we've had enough of litter; let's all take a zero tolerance approach.

Derek Robertson is chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful.