
The debate over whether or not a deposit scheme should be
trialled in an attempt to increase recycling and decrease litter has been
bubbling for some time, and it recently spilled over into the pages of the
Metro. A number of people wrote in, both for and against the scheme, and one
such letter stuck with me. The writer
argued that it wasn’t necessary because most people recycled anyway … to which
I feel obligated to respond with this photo of 18 bags of recycling—cans,
plastic bottles, and glass bottles—that were found in just one patch of
Chippenham this weekend. Imagine this multiplied across the entire country.
In a perfect world, something like a deposit scheme wouldn’t
be necessary because people would recognise that we have finite resources and recycle
to help reduce the burden on the planet; litter would be non-existent. However, sights like this make it clear that
we do not live in such a world. I’m not
saying that a deposit scheme is the ideal solution, and there certainly are
some wrinkles that will have to be ironed out if it is to be successful, but
isn’t it time we started taking steps to find solutions, rather than merely
live with the problem?