Litter Picking

A group of us went litter picking today - all part of getting our town ready to receive the Olympic Torch.  At first sight I wasn't sure there was much need for us, but it's remarkable how much we overlook.  Once your eyes are trained, there is just so much of it!

Most of what we picked was the expected - nub ends and fag packets, chocolate wrappers, cans and bottles,those triangular boxes you get sandwiches in, and till receipts.  Stuff dropped thoughtlessly, stuff deliberately dumped:  a pile at the side of one space in the Tesco car park was obviously the result of a driver deciding to clean out his car by the simple expedient of tipping every item of rubbish onto the ground right outside his driver's door.  I also found:  a tea bag, a lady's shoe, an industrial glove . . . no doubt the others also had some strange finds to report.

I was inspired to sign up as a Litter Champion, with the objective of Keeping Wales Tidy.  I hate to see stuff just dumped, and have a tendency to walk around for ages with bits of rubbish in my pocket or clasped in my hand, until at last I discover a bin.  We live in a throwaway society, and a lot of what we buy is over-packaged.  Our observations this morning suggest that cigarette smokers in particular can be rather careless about where they drop the remains of their last ciggie, or even the pack it came in - but that all of us can find ourselves tempted just to chuck stuff away, even when there's a bin not far away.

Thoughtlessly dumped litter is not only unsightly, it can also be dangerous.  Glass breaks, metal cans get twisted and torn when mangled by a mowing machine, seagulls and other birds get strangled by those plastic thingies that hold drinks cans together - and so on.  Well, we were glad to have spent a bit of time doing our bit, and I have to say that we received lots of positive comments from passers-by.  And let it be said also that most people do use bins, or take litter home with them . . . and may I close this piece with a thank you to them, the quiet and considerate majority - for if everyone just dumped and chucked, we'd be up to our necks in the stuff!