Sorry folks, that you have to read this whinging blog. But I need to have a major whinge about the amount of rubbish lying about in parks and the verges of motorways and roads in our part of the United Kingdom. All winter, which I know we normally spend in warmer places, we have looked at the rubbish and wondered about it.
Some of it blows off the tops of trucks, or from overflowing rubbish bins, but most of it appears to have been thrown out of the windows of vehicles. It would appear that once some people finish their food or drink, the best way to dispose of the left over containers is to ditch them out of the window. Obsessively I have looked, not while I have been driving I might add, to identify the types of rubbish. As well as plastic bags, cardboard, plastic polystyrene food containers there are empty high alcohol beer cans, energy drinks cans, coke cans, and interestingly, a smattering of bottles that contained water. Some people are just too lazy to keep the rubbish in the vehicle and take it home. Do I make judgements about the type of people who drink these types of drinks? Perhaps not! But definitely anti social.
The same applies to some car parks, especially where there are fast food shops. The car park in front of Dennis the Butchers, an upmarket shop in Bexley Park, has rubbish scattered everywhere, mainly fast food containers and empty cans. There are bins, which are mostly overflowing I might add. This area is popular with tradesmen, not that I am blaming them entirely. Anyway people buy takeaways from the hot food section of the butchers shop and then throw the wrappers etc out of car or van windows. The sitting area, with table and chairs has been taken away from the front of the butchers shop. It was always littered with rubbish. Bexley Council have placed the rubbish police there on numerous occasions in order to catch the offenders.
We have been told that councils are financially feeling the pinch and have had to cut back on services. Sevenoaks Council must be the poorest as they have turned off all street lights that were on country roads around Swanley and they do not clean up road verges at all in wintertime. However I do wonder about the verges, lights and rubbish in the posh areas around Sevenoaks. I bet they are pristine.
A new law has just been introduced, on the 1st April, 2018, to fine people who throw litter out of their vehicles. However many people will ignore it. And who is going to police it anyway.
I am always amazed by the sheer ignorance of some people, who obviously think that a litter law does not apply to them. But I guess when there is no one to reinforce a law, then it is a open to abuse anyway.
More about useless laws.
There are signs around to tell people they will be fined if they allow their dogs to poo on the street. Yet, there is an awful lot of dog poo lying around on footpaths. And amazingly some people put their dog's poo in a bag, and then leave the bag on the footpath. This is especially so in the woods. One wonders about the mentality of people.
The message constantly coming over the loud speaker at Darenth hospital says that there must be no smoking or vaping on the hospital site. My understanding of this message means that 'site' relates to the area around the hospital buildings too. The large amount of cigarette butts, littering the paths along the side of the hospital, stretching from the front door to the end of building, is proof that smokers ignore the message.
Small supermarkets and shops are allowed to give out plastic bags to all customers, without asking if the person needs a bag, and without charging the required 5p, which to me negates the idea of reducing the amount of small plastic bags. And it appears to be an honour system at the self service tills in Asda, as to whether one pays for the plastic bags or not. So much for changing the law regarding the use of plastic bags. And it is these small plastic bags that are seen littering the verges of roads and motorways, and in the parks.
But on a more positive note Spring has arrived, and everything around us is green. The grass is long, the cow parsley, wildflowers, docks, stinging nettles and blackberries have grown tall, and the green leaves on the trees are dense. Amazingly all of the rubbish on the side of the roads, and motorways, is hidden by the sheer greenness, and parks have been cleaned up. So part of the problem has been hidden until next winter.
On a brighter note.
I went for a long walk in woodland, behind Emma and Steve's house in Orpington, called Hoblingwell Wood which leads onto another Scadbury Park Nature Reserve. There is a sporting reserve in front of Hoblingwell Wood. The wood itself is an ancient woodland and has plenty of history. At the moment the bluebells are out, plus the flowers on the gorse and broom. A lovely area to walk in as long as you ignore the cans, bottles and plastic bags hidden in the undergrowth.
No comments:
Post a Comment