I kicked off #OneADayInMay this year with a piece of litter blown over from the playing fields at Hardenhuish and Sheldon Schools, and today’s rubbish comes directly from there as well. Jon and I took advantage of the half-term break to get a look at the vegetation that is growing on the other side of our fence to make sure it wasn’t hitting the roof and, at the same time, we did an impromptu litter pick and collected a full bag of rubbish and recycling.
My home office overlooks the playing fields so I know that students aren’t the only ones who use them–they’re popular with runners, people using it as a shortcut, and cricket players. The litter we found reflects this mixed usage: sweet wrappers and juice boxes that looks like they come from a student’s packed lunch, lots of water bottles, and the occasional coffee cup and cigarette butt.
I wonder how much of this litter is due to the feeling that it is “someone’s job” to clean it up. I hope that, at the very least, the schools are making the effort to teach their students that litter is everyone’s responsibility.
