Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

WHY LITTER BUGS ME

Am I the only one who thinks that this country is getting more litter strewn by the week? That is not intended as any refection on the efforts made by cash-strapped local councils who work hard trying to pick it all up. But every time I drive around the constituency, or up to London and back it is impossible not to be struck by the sheer volume of garbage in the verges and hedges of our green and pleasant land.

Few things irritate me more than to see a car window wound down and the scrunched up crisp packet discarded or the casual tossing over the shoulder of the Mars Bar wrapper on the way home from school.

Why does it matter? Well it looks horrible for a start. I have reached the stage of my life when I comment on how nice the flowers are looking on roundabouts as I drive past and the last thing I want to see is daffodils nestling stem by jowl with yesterdays chip wrappings. Secondly, just imagine how it looks to tourists who come to our part of the country to admire our stunning views. Would you come back twice if the image of Jennycliff you took away with you was one with fag packets cart-wheeling past? So there is an economic cost as well as a visual impact.

But most importantly, I subscribe to the “broken windows” theory that lay behind the massive progress made by New York in cracking down on crime in recent years. It goes something like this: if you let people get away with small incidents of anti-social behaviour, say dropping rubbish or scrawling graffiti, things quickly deteriorate. The character and quality of a neighbourhood then plummet resulting in many other forms of undesirable activity, crime and abandonment. It is about respect, and if we lose respect for our community we are on a slippery slope.

There are some practical things we can do. Wherever a new litter-generating outlet (takeaway etc) is granted planning permission to operate, they should be made responsible to clear up any litter emanating from their establishment within a given radius. We also have to change our cultural attitude to this and see the same improvement as we have with drink driving. This can be done at home, in school and on the media. Finally, we should enforce the by-laws that mean you can be fined for dropping litter. Maybe then we can start to reclaim our streets.

posted by Nigel on Wednesday, March 19, 2003