I saw someone drop litter today (20th July). What do you do? Well like most people I ignored it. I have had conversations about litter with smokers who do not feel that the filter is litter. I have also heard it said that apples are biodegradable but I'm afraid they don't degrade fast enough on the streets of Morecambe.
The councils do pick up litter and there are a lot of good citizens out there who also play a part in keeping Britain tidy, but we are still an untidy country. Go abroad and see what their litter looks like. How do holidaymakers to this country react when they see our litter? If there is a league table of countries with most litter I think we would be looking to be champions.
The main reason that we are in this position is because we accept that we can drop litter. So how do we combat it? I have ruled out hanging the culprits. What about on the spot fines? I remember seeing an article about this on local TV and people felt that they were really hard done by. It seems that you can't win. I have seen take-away litter thrown out of a car driven at speed. If these people got a huge fine I don't think they would be cured.
We need to separate the accidental drop of a sweet wrapper and leaving pizza boxes on the street. We need to educate and we need to police this offence. Any offers for the correct punishment?
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Perhaps if they were required to spend time litter picking as punishment for dropping litter, they would think twice about doing it again.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I was always made to pick up anything I dropped, litterwise, usually by accident. I have encouraged my children to do the same, wait until they find a bin.
The most awkward situation I have been in was yesterday, after eating a banana on Preston railway station, I looked for a bin to put the skin in, there was none to be seen,[due to the potential terrorist action,] but I looked around until I found an employee who I then asked what I was supposed to do with my litter.