Express assistant news editor and Conservative councillor Mieka Smiles says change is badly needed.
“Even my beloved Middlesbrough isn’t immune!” (Image: Getty )
If there’s one thing my husband and children hate, it’s someone dropping litter. But although I’m certain they find it as lazy and irritating as the next person, that’s not why they roll their eyes and sigh. The real reason is because they know through many years of painful experience precisely what’s coming next…
They know that, however young, old, feeble or scarily muscle-bound the perpetrator is, a Karen-esque challenge from me is imminent. It happened last week, although – thankfully for my family – I was alone. I spotted a bloke shoving empty booze bottles into a hedge. I mean, what, why, how? But despite the risks of confronting a random buff bloke in his 40s with a backpack, the words erupt like word vomit. “Excuse me – can you pick that up please?”
Thankfully, I didn’t go home with said bottle smashed over my head. Instead, I was branded a “busybody” but, hey, he did carry away the bottles and, as a local councillor and journalist, that’s one insult I couldn’t possibly deny.
But I really do take litter seriously. And I bet you do, too. Britain, as you’ve probably noticed, is absolutely drowning in the stuff and I know you’re just as angry as I am. From the cans and plastic bottles caught up in our hedges through to everyone’s least favourite tree decoration: dog poo bags. It’s depressing.
More than that though, it impacts on how people feel about their area, kills precious wildlife and has even shown to have a detrimental effect on property prices and affect investment. No one wants to live in a dump. Sadly it’s a reality for many of us.
According to Keep Britain Tidy only a piddly one in ten of our streets and parks are litter free. A shocking two million pieces of litter are dropped every day in the UK and our coastline is paying the price too, with the Marine Conservation Society reporting a 9.5% rise in single-use plastic waste on beaches last year alone.
So what to do? Given the police are struggling to tackle basic thefts, it doesn’t fill me with confidence that strict enforcement is the answer – much as I’d like to see the litter louts hammered with whopping fines. Like many things today, much of it I suspect means taking matters into our own hands. In my area of Nunthorpe – and across Middlesbrough – there’s a quiet army of daily litter pickers: it’s immensely therapeutic and gives you a smug double-whammy of getting in the steps whilst making a visible difference to where you live.
The Government needs to empower that spirit and councils should be giving out free litter picking equipment to those keen to give it a go. Keir Starmer needs to stop bending over backwards and spending millions on hitting daft carbon targets and focus on the things that directly impact our lives. This is one very easy way of tackling a national issue that wouldn’t cost a fortune.
Many are quick to blame youngsters for all this mess – and yes, our local park is often strewn with the stuff. But recently, a smile was brought to my face as I picked litter.
“Are you on community service?” one cheeky lad on a mountain bike asked. And then, magically, the kids followed my lead and started to pick it up, too. If moody teenage boys can pitch in, there’s hope we can turn the tide.
