It’s always ‘someone else’s job’ seems to be a worrying underlying attitude when it comes to the state of our environment. Why bother picking up litter – when it denies a council employee a wage packet.
The same attitude seems to prevail when it comes to dropping or dumping litter too – and l am not getting into a discussion about our litter enforcement officers.
Community spirit is what we want to start growing and it is good to see that Bath & North East Somerset Council’s upcoming litter picking week will see schools, individuals and established litter picking groups tackle rubbish across the district.
But more people are being urged to join the clean up – and help ensure the whole district receives some attention.
The ‘Big B&NES Community Clean-Up’ from 19 to 27 October, coordinated by the council and supported by community group No Place for Litter, encourages individuals, neighbours, businesses, schools and community groups to run their own events.
Many litter picking activities have already been organised and welcome people to join in on the day. Individual action is also at the fore with people having committed to their own #2minutelitterpick in their neighbourhoods.
Councillor David Wood, cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “We are grateful for the positive response we’ve had from people wanting to join in with the Big B&NES Community Clean-Up including community groups, university students, schools and environmental projects. However, more can always be done to tackle the damage litter does to our environment so I would encourage more people to get involved.
“There is a calendar of events to help people find a litter pick near them and there is still time for people to set up their own. Every bit of litter picked up and removed from the environment matters, so even if you are only able to spend two minutes collecting litter, it is saving every piece from causing damage to the natural environment.”
A pupil at Newbridge Primary School has already initiated a litter pick ahead of the week of action and the Reception children picked up 12 bags of rubbish that was polluting their local environment.
The calendar of events and information about organising your own litter pick can be found here: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/streets-and-highway-maintenance/litter-street-care-and-cleaning/organising-litter-pick
Anyone doing a litter pick is encouraged to share their stories of their event, including photos, using the hashtag #CommunityClean, on twitter @greenbathNES or facebook.com/bathnes or email: sustainability@bathnes.gov.uk
#NoPlaceForLitter are volunteers working alongside Bath & North East Somerset Council in order to maximise the help and support available to volunteer litter pickers across the area.
Find out what the council is doing to reduce the problems of litter at https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/streets-and-highway-maintenance/litter-street-care-and-cleaning/litter-campaigns
