There have been many occasions, especially on holiday in the UK where my wife and I spot discarded litter. It’s nearly always sandwich wrappers, empty drink cans or just a carrier bag full of someone’s finished lunch. A recent trip to a lovely woodland with waterfalls in the Lake District saw a worse example deep below us near the waters edge, a discarded nappy!
We are always angry at such sights and it leads us to tut tut and then a conversation repeats in trying to understand the mentality of those who do it. Are they too lazy to take their litter to the nearest bin or home? Do they not care about the countryside? Who the hell do they think is going to clear it up? Are they stupid? Do they lack respect? And let’s jump to the assumption that this lack of personal responsibility and respect must come from their parents, which in turn points the finger at young people which of course is not accurate. Judging by witnessing fast food bags being tossed out of car windows, and the litter we saw on a dual carriageway on our most recent trip, the litter lout comes in all forms and ages.
To coin a phrase probably popular with grumpy old men like me… “When I was young…” my parents were very quick to teach me to pick up after myself, put rubbish in the bin and be respectful. As much as I probably hated this on many occasions (Kevin and Perry spring to mind), the mantra of respect is part of my upbringing, who I am, and my values. And therefore I question why others do not hold those values themselves?
When I was a kid, there was a very prominent national campaign called ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ with a memorable accompanying logo of a person dropping their litter into a bin and a lot of advertising including TV. It may not have registered consciously with me back then but I obviously remember it and the messaging it was reminding me albeit at the time potentially subconsciously.
Writing this post made me Google about Keep Britain Tidy to wonder what happened to it and why I don’t see or notice anything like that sort of campaign now. Much to my surprise Keep Britain Tidy was initiated back in 1954 by the Women’s Institute. It appears there have been a lot of campaigns over the years and Keep Britain Tidy is alive and well as a trading name of Waste Watch, take a look at their website here: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/home and note the updated logo below.
Of course, my moaning about litter does not stop at that. Chucking a lit cigarette out of the car window annoys me, although I do then try to consider whether or not cars have ashtrays anymore? Will that cigarette butt biodegrade? Is it really dangerous? Is the person in front of me smoking and blowing the smoke out of their car window stretching their neck uncomfortably just too precious about their car? If the smell is that bad, why not vape? Anyway, I’m going off track and ranting. Let’s get back to the main point!
Reading a little more, my assumptions of lack of promotion for keeping Britain tidy are not accurate. There’s been the ‘Don’t be a tosser’ campaign designed to get noticed by its very title.
We all enjoy the countryside which has provided us with comfort and enjoyment especially during the pandemic.
Apparently it takes 500 years for a nappy to biodegrade and in looking this fact up I read that it’s even more environmentally damaging manufacturing disposable nappies. See here if you’re interested in reading more: https://www.junomagazine.com/the-environmental-impact-of-nappies/
It’s not all doom and gloom and a lost cause though as Waste Watch are seeing successes in promoting the benefits of recyclable nappies to manufacturers and councils to improve the situation – see here: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/news/more-million-people-uk-try-recycle-nappies
With the increasing impact us humans are having on our planet with climate change, and the pace at which we appear to be destroying Mother Earth, is it too much to ask for all of us individually and collectively just to Keep Britain Tidy?