The thing about picking up litter, whether it’s part of #OneADayInMay, on a Community Clean Up, or just because you know it’s the right thing to do, is that you don’t have to look very hard to find it. I’ve shown a few instances this month of litter I’ve collected practically on my doorstep, blown over from local schools. The rest of the time it’s rubbish found as part of my normal commute: the bottles and cans, cartons and wrappers, that people discard as they go about their day-to-day life. In short, there is no break from litter.
This was certainly the case during a trip to Bournemouoth this Bank Holiday weekend. The weather was lovely and the sea inviting, but we could hardly walk more than a few feet without stumbling over the remains left by other holiday makers. Bournemouth is trying very hard to keep their beaches clean: there are reminders on vehicles, sponsored bins, and bins lining the promenade. But until this becomes part of a large scale, nationwide effort to change the culture and attitude around waste, scenes like this are going to be repeated around our coastline, in our countryside, and across our communities.
These are a few recyclables we collect while going down the Zigzag near East Cliff.
Not sure what was going on here, but we let it be as everything looked nearly full or unopened. Perhaps one instance where someone was actually coming back?
The irony of this bag is that it was used to hold disposable plates.
Perhaps not the best advertising for Harry Ramsden.
This bag was full of cans, bottles, and other detritus that we are assuming someone cleaned out of their car. Instead of putting it in the bin about 30 feet away, or even just leaving it by the kerb, they dropped it over a fence and on to the cliff. Managed to fish it out and dispose of it properly.
Yes, this bin has seen better days, and yes, I regularly photograph bins while on holiday. But could this be one potential solution for overstretched local authorities?
Multi-tasking: Binning litter collected along the beach and photographing wildlife. If you’d like to see non-rubbish related photos, head on over to the MissElaineous blog.
This little robin may feature in a future poster design; stay tuned!
