I thought it about time to raise an issue that some seem happy to leave by the wayside, (forgive the pun) that of the litter problem. This, I’m sure is a cross party issue, and one that, although often forgotten is close to many other citizens’ hearts.
Walking around Selly Oak, Greater Birmingham, London and even great swathes of the British countryside, you cannot help to glance upon the ugly sight of rubbish; strewn or blown all over the nation. What a shame it is, that the parks and roads of our cities, parts of which are beautifully designed are covered in this debris. For those of us who live in Selly Oak, this problem seems to be ever increasing.
Straight away, can I say that the council have and are trying to clean up. A number of times I’ve spotted road cleaners marching up and down with brooms; picking, sweeping and scrapping away the gaudy rubbish but every time it reappears.
As part of a social experiment, and as part of an attempt to make a very small difference, I turned to our friend Facebook, and set up an event; just one day, where the slogan read “On the 1st of May, let’s aim to pick up just 3 pieces of litter and bin them! If you want to do more, fab.” How surprised I was when of the more than 1000 invitees first invited, more than two thirds turned it down. I’m very pleased to know that a minority of us are happy to make a small difference, but where have the ideas of individual and social responsibility disappeared to for the majority?
Environment minister Lord Rooker described the amount of litter dropped on roads and around towns as “a disgrace.” Why are people so adverse to the idea of binning the odd piece of litter or to not dropping litter in the first place? I know that this is starting to sound more and more like a rant but I truly think that if we were to change our attitudes to litter, our Nation could be that little bit more beautiful.
I’ll conclude, with one last point; if we were to take just a little pride in our environment, the difference could be enormous. With small changes to our surroundings, maybe people will develop an attitude to take more care and pride in their neighbourhoods.
Birmingham University Conservative Future 
Fantastic post Dan!
This why we will be engaging in a host of social action work so that we really do our part for the local community.
It may seem like a trivial issue but our attitude to our immediate environment truly reflects our lifestyles, hence social responsibility! ;-)
xXx
I couldn’t agree more
Daniel reflects my sentiments entirely and I’m glad he takes action instead of always waiting for others to do it – as most people do. I quite often pick litter up off the pavements near my home or local parks, as I’m passing, and bin it. Quite often though I notice the bins are overflowing, councils please note bins need emptying more frequently!