When released into the wild, litter doesn’t face many
dangers. Yes, cans and bottles on the
roadway may end up flattened, but usually pieces of rubbish cause trouble, whether it’s blocking
drains, delaying trains, or endangering wildlife.
However, the opposite has been the case for the captive litter
that forms #LitterWatch2017. Storms this
week have seen the board get blown down again, crushing the cups and
polystyrene takeaway container, knocking off a few of the cigarettes, and generally
causing far more damage due to the power of gravity than simple exposure to the
elements.
I will be looking to relocate the board this week to a
more sheltered area, but in the meantime the napkin is still hanging on and the
other paper or cardboard items are continuing to soften, but not
disintegrate. The biggest change I’ve
noticed is that some of the packaging is starting to fade in the sun. But most of the plastic still looks almost
new. For example, check out the Lucozade bottle – it could have been set
outside yesterday.
