Not a pretty sight I usually like to put a positive spin on my news from Twmbarlwm - I prefer to focus on the fantastic work our members and volunteers achieve – our fence building, tree planting, landscape repairs and of course our litter picking. I certainly don’t like to Half a dozen fly-tip incidents on illustrate the vandalism, abuse Mynydd Machen and unsightly mounds of rubbish that appear on our landscape. The more observant reader will notice that the lead photograph is of Twmbarlwm’s neighbour, Mynydd Machen – I include it simply because of the shock it gave me when I recently visited there and which prompted this rant. Not just with the horrendous fly-tipping incidents there but also the abuse of the landscape by two and four wheeled off-roaders – a mirror image of the problems we face on Twmbarlwm. After I took this photo I posted it online to register my disgust and was unsurprised to see dozens of responses to it within a couple of hours – One of four burnt out cars in which led me to wonder why so many people are moved by littering and 2015 on Mynydd Twmbarlwm fly-tipping but so few people do anything about it. Going through my photos and records of the past who simply toss aside their food wrappers and empty year I was amazed to see the amount of rubbish CTS drink bottles or those more serious offenders who don’t has dealt with – four burnt out vehicles, half a dozen give a second thought to dumping an entire household lorry-sized fly-tips and each of our monthly litter picks clearance in the countryside instead of their local tip. has averaged eight full rubbish bags. Other good This disease, I call litter-blindness, costs the taxpayer citizens also do regular litter picking on the millions of pounds every year – just go to mountainside too. Weigh that lot up over a year websites such as www.keepwalestidy.org and it amounts to …well, an awful lot. or www.flytippingactionwales.org to see Recently I have noticed an increase on their facts and figures. a national scale, of articles in newspapers, In these days of austerity, in which on TV and radio concerning littering, it is local councils need to make serious obviously a very emotive subject and begs cutbacks on their services, it seems the question “Why is it so rife?”. inevitable that waste disposal policies are Most people I talk to when out and about going to suffer. Solutions such as closing or agree and appear as dumbfounded as I am in restricting access to local recycling centres are understanding the mentality of these litter louts. enforced. This results in some people who can’t dispose Everybody tells me that they have brought up their kids of their household waste easily and cheaply will revert to appreciate their environment and dispose of their to dumping it in the nearest, quietest location. rubbish properly - but oh so many don’t! Unfortunately, the quietest locations are generally our As an example, at one of our recent litter-pick days beautiful, remote countryside spots. Usually where a family of four adults and four children came by (a very farmers are likely to have their livestock and where nice family they were too). They stopped for a chat and people walk with family, children and pets. In other one volunteered to take a rubbish bag and pick-up words, where broken glass, ceramic tiles, sharp metal, stick on his walk – within 100 yards he handed them paint pots, screws, nails, torn plastic, polystyrene, back to us saying the rest of the party “gave him grief” electric cable and an endless list of hazardous materials for doing so because it would spoil their family stroll. will seriously threaten the life and limb of any passing What sort of message did this send out to the children? person or animal. If we don’t educate our children in the appreciation It takes groups like CTS to make a difference and I of our environment we will always be plagued by those believe if we all work together to take responsibility for our waste and take pride in our communities we can build a future where fly-tipping is socially unacceptable. Terry Evans (Chair Cymdeithas Twmbarlwm Society)
A gang of the CTS litter-gathering fairies 24
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CTS meet at the car park for a litter pick and volunteer workday on the last Sunday of every month to which everyone is invited, it’s not all hard work and it’s a great opportunity to find your way around up there. We organise walks and other events up the mountain throughout the year so watch our website and Facebook page for details – come and join us some time.
www.twmbarlwm.co.uk January 2016