{"id":1198,"date":"2013-09-05T11:30:48","date_gmt":"2013-09-05T10:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abbeylandsresidents.org.uk\/?p=1198"},"modified":"2023-07-12T07:46:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T06:46:01","slug":"provide-better-litter-facilities-on-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/provide-better-litter-facilities-on-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Provide better litter facilities on street"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A staggering 40% of litter is related to cigarette smoking, not just cigarette stubs, but the cellophane wrappers and silver foil and the packets too. That is 200 million stubs daily which is 122 tonnes across the UK! At a local level, I’d say that 100% the High Street sites I survey on any one day contain smoking related litter. Until I had a chat with my local Co-op manager, there were significant problems there, which he has helpfully started to address. With the advent of the smoking ban I’ll bet there has been a marked increase of discards on our pavements and streets near you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

But why do they cause a problem? Unbelievable perhaps, but cigarette ends can take 5 to 12 years to fully biodegrade (they are are cellulose acetate); discarded butts can be harmful to birds and marine life; butts easily get caught in paving stones, gutters, and gullies and will end up blocking drains, which can cause localised flooding (I’ve had to tackle 3 such problems in 5 years); And then there’s people that use the tops of litter bins to stub out, but leave them there, which is not only unsightly but the butts blow away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suspect that many simply do not realise that cigarette ends and related paraphenelia are litter. If you do not dispose of them responsibly you could face a \u00a350 fine for littering. If you stay in Edinburgh of Glasgow and are young, chances are you’ve been fined for littering. So why have no fines ever been levied in Dunbar and why is is there no provision for cigarettes either? Quite simply because it is not regarded as a priority. Our streets may be cleared of large litter, but are regularly encrusted with other detritus, which will not go away until the next downpour – not often enough I say. It is well proven that civic responsibility decreases when places are littered, badly maintained and unkempt, covered in graffiti. I guess our dirty pavements simply encourage it and we get what we deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. Falkirk Council has a much stricter regime and mountains of publicity material and local initiatives to tackle the litter problem, not just fag litter. They too are inconvenienced by careless discarded food or black bin liners, which attract gulls – and they are nowhere near the sea. I don’t know the figure for East Lothian, but I wouldn’t mind guessing that the costs of litter reach the millions of pounds every year. Makes you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to see our shop fronts and bus stops scrubbed down regularly, even daily – this would signal to people that it is not acceptable to litter outside their store (or let their dog urinate there). I’d like to see additional facilities for smokers, including advice \/ help on how to stop (as an ex smoker I know this is more than a bad habit). I’d like to see more spent on publicity and litter being a higher profile issue. Street cleaners should be visible. Polluters should be made to pay, including originators such as takeaways. I’m not sure that we need to go overboard, but some extra provision for recycling on the go would be a very good idea too, provided this did not mean extra ugly street furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyhows, here is a list of excuses i found on the Falkirk Council website – so what’s yours?<\/p>\n\n\n\n