There’s something disastrous happening in the world and it’s not going away. Many environmentally conscious people are doing their utmost in their attempts to rectify it while a small minority of the remainder are blatantly doing exactly the opposite. What am I talking about? Litter!
We’ve all seen multiple stories of Covid breaches over the last week, since we’ve been officially allowed to meet up in groups of 6 people in a park or garden. But as usual that rule has been – well let’s be honest, completely overruled. Youngsters (mainly) seem to feel it’s ok to gather together en-masse in parks, on beaches – basically in any open spaces that the recent good weather has enticed them to visit. This is wrong on so many levels. Hasn’t anyone told them there’s still a global pandemic lurking called Covid 19? As far as I’m aware the majority of under 50’s are the people who are yet to be vaccinated – so this applies directly to those pictured above on Plymouth Hoe last weekend.
That’s the first point which is hard enough to understand, but the second is even more astonishing: the sheer volume of detritus that’s been left in the aftermath of these people, obviously too overcome with the joy of being permitted to be together again, to give a moment’s thought to taking home their discarded crap, scattered everywhere like a sad Monday morning after a magnificent Glastonbury weekend.
These people obviously have no concern for either themselves or the planet they’re going to inherit – with it’s ever increasing environmental catastrophies. But why? Even my own teenage daughter, currently caught in the maelstrom of being a rebellious first year uni student, said “I don’t understand why they can’t just take their rubbish away with them? It’s not difficult is it – if the bins are all full why don’t they just take their empty stuff home?” Quite! It’s such a simple question and solution. Can anyone explain why?
To me it certainly seems incomprehensible, but maybe that’s because I’ve now become such an ancient dinosaur I’ve forgotten how to have fun? But actually no, looking back at my younger self, growing up in a seaside town, I know I would never have dreamt of leaving such a vile mess behind for someone else to deal with. Even then, with not a care in the world, I know it would have left me with a guilty conscience – something these offenders seem to have a total lack of.
We all love to go out and immerse ourselves in the pleasures of our beautiful country in all it’s bountiful glory, especially at this time of year, and taking into consideration that we’ve been restricted so much over the past year. Whether it’s the beach, the park, or our forests and hills, our country has some of the most spectacular sights the world has to offer. Isn’t that justification enough to compel us to do our very best to look after it and treat it with the respect it deserves, so it’s still there for our future generations to enjoy in years to come? Seems not, judging by the horrendous pictures reported over the last week.
Projects are happening like @TheOceanCleanup and #PlasticsChallenge which are trying to help in this global disaster.
We’re proud to begin our partnership with @TheOceanCleanup: a new river Interceptor called Neon Moon 1, which will collect plastic before it reaches the sea. The Ocean Cleanup plans to deploy these in 1000 rivers globally to help reduce ocean plastic by 90%.
Love c, g, w, j & p pic.twitter.com/gT7WHKd6zL— Coldplay (@coldplay) March 25, 2021
We really must do something about this ever-increasing problem of discarding our leftover rubbish, which is perpetually happening each time we are lucky enough to enjoy a fine weekend’s weather. The devastation is always left behind for someone else to deal with and it really must stop. Plus it’s actually an offence to litter. Cornwall Council’s website states:
“People who carelessly discard litter in a public open place are committing a criminal offence. In cases of littering the normal course of action will be to offer a notice of opportunity to pay a fixed penalty of £150. Providing the offender is cooperative.”
So, do we need beach marshals or police officers regularly patrolling our beauty spots where the masses gather, giving them the power to fine those attempting to leave behind their rubbish? If that’s what it takes, then maybe the answer, sadly, is yes.
The content of the video below confirms that this behaviour is simply and unequivocally unacceptable.
Also, the repurcussions of the perpetual plastic pollution ending up in our oceans are here highlighted in this film Seaspiracy for all to see. The trailer is below – if you can stomach it!