The Lonely Litter Picker
Tanya Laird first noticed that Gloucester has a litter problem whilst walking her dog Ikey. Since then she has made it her mission to do something about the issue and now picks up rubbish on every dog walk and regularly organises group litter picks with other like-minded volunteers. After registering with Gloucester City Council as a volunteer, Tanya was provided with a litter picking stick and regularly gets plastic bin bags. When she has filled the bags, they are left at designated spots to be picked up and disposed of by the council.
Though crisp packets, plastic bottles and cans do fade somewhat in the sun, many are older than they initially appear. Quick checks of expiry dates on packaging can reveal litter that has been stuck in hedgerows for decades. As soon as it is picked up, more appears, either brought downstream by the river, or dropped fresh by people carelessly discarding their rubbish without thinking of the consequences. To collect it all is a seemingly endless and thankless task. As well as being unsightly, litter poses many serious threats to the
environment. It is well-known that plastics take hundreds of years to bio-degrade, and are often mistaken as edible by unsuspecting wildlife. Metal cans and glass bottles can become sharp and dangerous when broken by grass cutters. Cigarette butts, the biggest source of litter, also contaminate the ground and water table with many harmful chemicals. While picking up litter by the bagful is a well-meaning attempt at finding a solution to the problem, the real difference will only come when the general public change their attitudes.
